PDP govs okay Koshedo as acting national secretary 

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

 

The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) Governors Forum( PDP-GF) has recommended that the deputy national secretary of the PDP, Setonji Koshedo, should assume office as acting national secretary.

The PDP-GF, in the communique, which was read by its chairman, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, after its meeting,in Ibadan, on Monday , also proposed the holding of the opposition party’s national convention , to elect new National Working Committee ( NWC) from August 28-30, 2025, in Kano.

The PDP governors, while reiterating their support for the ouster of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as PDP national secretary, noted that in view Supreme Court judgment on the disputed national secretary position, Koshedo should assume office as acting national secretary, pending the nomination and ratification of a substantive national secretary from the South East.

The South East chapter of the PDP in 2023 nominated former national youth leader of the party, Sunday Ude-Okoye as replacement for Anyanwu, after the latter emerged as the candidate in the last Imo State governorship election.

However, Anyanwu’s ouster has been a subject of litigation, with an Enugu State High Court affirming Ude-Okoye’s nomination and mandating PDP NWC to swear him in as national secretary. Last December , the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, affirmed the judgment of the lower Court.

However, the Supreme Court, while in its verdict on a Appeal filed by Anyanwu, nullified the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal, and upheld the minority judgment, which stated that the lower court had no jurisdiction over the issue, as it was an internal affair of the party.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment, both Anyanwu and Udeh-Okoye has been laying claim to the national secretary position.

However, the communique stated that “the Forum reiterates its position taken in Asaba on the issue of the National Secretary of the party, but in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment, Forum resolved to recommend that the Deputy National Secretary acts as National Secretary, pending the nomination and ratification of a Substantive Secretary from the South East Zone and NEC respectively at its next meeting.”