From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
There was commotion at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, yesterday, as staff of the party, supported by security personnel, resisted attempts by some thugs to prevent members of the National Working Committee (NWC) from accessing the secretariat.
Daily Sun gathered that some political thugs had assembled at the entrance of the Wadata Plaza, ahead of a meeting of the NWC scheduled to be held at the secretariat. However, staffers of the party resisted the thugs, before they were eventually cleared by a combined team of security personnel, including policemen, Department of State Service (DSS) operatives and officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Yesterday was the first time the PDP leadership would be having a physical meeting at the national secretariat since the dispute over the national secretary’s position.
The Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, had in a judgement on December 20, 2024, affirmed the judgment of an Enugu High Court, which upheld the nomination of the former PDP national youth leader, Sunday Ude-Okoye, as national secretary.
Ude-Okoye was nominated by the South East PDP to replace Senator Samuel Anyanwu as national secretary, in the aftermath of the latter’s emergence as candidate for the last Imo governorship poll.
Nonetheless, Anyanwu has continued to insist that he remains the national secretary, while the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the NWC have recognised Ude-Okoye as the party’s scribe.
The Supreme Court, after hearing Anyanwu’s appeal, last Monday, reserved judgment on the dispute.
However, ahead of yesterday’s NWC meeting, one of Anyanwu’s aides, Emmanuel Okoronkwo, in a video circulating online, had said nobody without PDP ID card would be allowed to access the party’s secretariat.
Daily Sun gathered that after the security team cleared off the thugs, the NWC members went ahead with their meeting, with Ude-Okoye in attendance as the national secretary.