The embattled National Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Samuel Anyanwu, has described the recognition of Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the occupant of the position by the Board of Trustees (BoT) as an invitation to chaos.
Anyanwu, in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, said that BoT had no power to direct the party to recognise Udeh-Okoye as the party’s national secretary.
NAN reports that BoT, arising from an emergency meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, had called on the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) to recognise and immediately swear in Udeh-Okoye as the party’s national secretary.
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This , the BoT said, was in obedience to the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
The BoT Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, while reading the communique issued at the end of the meeting, said that the decision followed the recommendations by the Taminu Turaki-led committee constituted by the board to study the legal disputes between Anyanwu and Udeh-Okoye, both of whom are laying claim to the seat.
NAN reports that the PDP has been embroiled in leadership crisis, as Anyanwu and Udeh-Okeydo have continued to lay claim to office of the PDP national secretary.
Wabara said that the BoT, in exercise of its constitutional powers, received, exhaustively considered and adopted the report of the Turaki-led committee with regards to the declarative judgment of the High Court of Enugu, as upheld by the Court of Appeal on the matter.
“Consequently, the BoT by adopting the report, recognises Udeh-Okoye as the substantive national secretary of PDP,” he had said.
Wabara said this was in full obedience to the declaratory judgment of the High Court of Enugu, as upheld by the Court of Appeal, as there had been no contrary or overriding judgment from any court of superior jurisdiction.
NAN also reports that a High Court and the Court of Appeal, both sitting in Enugu, had, on Dec. 20, 2024 and Jan. 14, removed Anyanwu from office and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the PDP national secretary.
Anyanwu, however, later secured a stay of execution order from the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, in an appeal No. CA/E/24/2024 on the judgment earlier delivered by the Enugu division of the appellate court.
NAN also recalls that the PDP Governors’ Forum had, in a communiqué issued after its meeting held on Jan. 30 in Asaba, called for implementation of court judgment recognising Udeh-Okoye as the national secretary.
Reacting to the BoT advice, Anyanwu said that the matter was already in court and the board had no power to offer such advice.
“You and I know that the matter is in Appeal Court and we shouldn’t even talk about it.
“The BoT members there, the tenure of some of them has expired; they can’t direct or advise the executive to do anything because their tenure had expired since October 2024.
“Beside, the matter is in the Appeal Court and there is a stay of execution order. So they (BoT) will be inviting chaos by making such statements,” Anyanwu said.
