•Schedules South South zonal congress, others for April 12

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

Amidst uncertainty over the participation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 8 Anambra State gubernatorial poll, the party is seeking to extend the sale of its expression of interest (EOI) and nomination forms for its governorship primary.

The party had originally scheduled the sale of its EoI and nomination forms for between February 26 and March 5, with the process pegged at N5 million and N35 million respectively. However, Daily Sun gathered that following the inability of the party to sell a single form, the PDP was considering the extension of the form to March 12.

Multiple sources at the PDP national secretariat told our correspondents that aspirants shunned the governorship nomination forms, as a result of the ongoing legal dispute between  Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye on who is the authentic national secretary of the party.

The Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, had last December, affirmed the nomination of Sunday Ude-Okoye by the South East chapter as Anyanwu’s replacement as national secretary. Nonetheless, Anyanwu has filed an appeal against the judgment before the Supreme Court.

When contacted, the PDP national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, confirmed to Daily Sun that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has resolved to extend the sale of nomination forms for the Anambra State governorship primary. Ologunagba stated that it was not true that the party has not sold any governorship nomination form in Anambra State. However, the opposition was not forthcoming on the identity of those he said has procured the form or the number of forms so far sold.

He explained that the decision to extend the deadline for the sale of EoI and nomination  forms for the Anambra governorship primary was to afford more interested aspirants an opportunity to participate in the exercise, noting that the party would issue a formal statement on the new deadline.

According to him, “We want to give more room for people to participate. That is the essence of democracy. It is not correct that people have collected forms. If it is part of your story, then it will be fake news. We have extended the sale of forms in the past. I don’t think this is a different one. It has nothing to do with the Supreme Court (case over disputed national secretary position).”

Meanwhile, the PDP has scheduled the conduct of zonal congresses in South South, South West and North Central geo-political zones for April 12, 2025. Ologunagba, in a statement, yesterday, said the exercises would hold simultaneously in Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Jos for South South, South West and North Central, respectively.

According to him, “The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved that the earlier postponed party’s zonal congress in the South South Zone will now be held on Saturday, April 12, 2025. In the same vein, the NWC also approved the shifting of the South West and North Central zonal congresses from the earlier scheduled date of Saturday, March 22, 2025 to Saturday, April 12, 2025.

“The zonal congresses will be held simultaneously in Port Harcourt, Rivers State (South South Zone); Ibadan, Oyo State (South West Zone) and Jos, Plateau State (North Central Zone), to elect the executives officers and national ex-officio members for the respective zonal chapters in line with the constitution and guidelines of our great party.”

The PDP NWC had nullified an earlier zonal congress held by some stakeholders in the South South, including the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, where Chief Dan Orbih was reelected as national vice chairman; and appointed a seven-man caretaker committee to pilot the affairs of the party in the zone for three months or pending the conduct of a zonal congress.