Anambra PDP in strategic moves to repair tattered umbrella

Ahead of the November 2025 governorship election in Anambra State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have struck a new chord to resolve its internal wrangling and restore it to winning path. But how far this new alliance would change its dwindling fortunes is still a matter of conjecture, LAWRENCE NJOKU and CHUKS COLLINS report.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State may have woken from its slumber from the peaceful state congress it held last week that produced new executive members.

In one swoop, leaders of the party, who held opposing views that kept it down, buried their individual interests and elected those who will chart new path for the party in the state.

Anambra State chapter of the PDP relapsed into crisis shortly after it took the reins of power in 1999 and could barely manage six years later as struggle for power set members on a warpath.

The outcome of the crisis was that the party, which won election in 1999 could not continue with the governor it produced then – late Chinwoke Mbadinuju, after his first four years in office. Many will not forget in a hurry how the battle of the godfathers in the state brought the administration of ex-Governor Chris Ngige into its kneels before he was removed by the court for assuming office illegally. The party lost control of government thereafter.

Since then, PDP has been recording dwindling fortunes in every election. Its worst outing came during the 2023 general elections, when it did not win a single out of three seats in the Senate, 11 House of Representative and 30 state Assembly positions.

Apparently tired of being tied to the aprons of failure, members of party in the state may have decided to confront their challenges headlong with the recent congress, which produced Chidi Chidebe as chairman.

The state structure had prior to his emergence been run by caretaker committees because of the inability of members to accept outcomes of congresses conducted in the state. The last known congress of the party, which was later dubbed as “controversial” held in 2017 and produced Ndubuisi Nwaobualor.

But in the congress held last week, virtually every participant including observers admitted it was free, transparent and fair. Chairman of the panel, who is also the Enugu State Deputy Governor, Ifeanyi Ossai, had promised all that he would deliver “a unique, memorable and classic congress.” He insisted that at the end of the process, winners and losers would be personally convinced and they would embrace their opponents, knowing full well that it was a fair contest. Indeed, that was the situation.

However, whether the new found cohesion is enough to usher in the winning streak that will return the party to reckoning in the state remains a conjecture. This is because, aside from losing some of its prominent members to other political parties due to the crisis, what remains of the party is not strong to win election in the state. In fact, Labour Party (LP) and Young Peoples Party (YPP) are playing roles of leading opposition parties in the state.

But a member of PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), and former Minister of Women Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih, is upbeat that the party would witness a fresh breath, just as she blamed the national secretariat of the party of being the unseen hands behind all the crises rocking the state chapter.

She stated that the problem of the party had been the inability of its members to speak as one, explaining that the new found love among members would reposition PDP for good.

According to her, no one in the right frame of mind would build a house and then choose to destroy the same, explaining that, “the moment this chicanery stops, the party would return to the state government house.”

Speaking in the same vein, former member, House of Representatives, Dr Christian Okeke, blamed the national secretariat of the PDP for sowing the seed of confusion in the state chapter of the party.

He noted that once this “hand-of-Esau and voice-of-Jacob relationship” by the party’s national headquarters with the state chapter was nipped, then all the drawbacks would have been sorted out. It was his conviction that, “all our members currently in other parties would return once the cancer from Wadata House was cut off.”

He called on the new state executive to work hard to restore confidence among members, and ultimately lead them to success in both the 2025 governorship election and 2027 general elections.

Okeke charged them to rebuild the internal unity and cohesion that will heal the wounds of divisions, foster collaborations, and establish a united front across all levels of the party with regular stakeholders meetings and conferences.

The new leadership of PDP in the state has listed strategic grassroots mobilisation and voter engagement as part of its agenda to re-energise the party base and increase voter turnout by reconnecting with communities at the grassroots level, promising to achieve it within 6 months of taking over.

They also disclosed another agenda aimed at strengthening synergy with national leadership and enhancing local government and ward relationships to create a harmonious and effective relationship among members, while fostering deeper engagement and cooperation with local government and ward leaderships across Anambra State.

A key national stakeholder of the party, Cosmas Agagbo, while commending all who participated in the congress, especially Deputy Governor Ossai, and his team for their tenacity and commitment, said the agenda if well implemented would bring the party back to winning ways.

He noted that all positions were hotly contested and transparent, adding that it was such that winners and losers congratulated one another in comradeship.

According to Agagbo, “the task of rebuilding our party has just begun and I urge members who had left to come back so that we take back our state together. Am convinced that many will come back.”

The party’s Vice Chairman (Central,) Olisemeka Chukwukelu, said they were all ready to take back the state in the coming 2025 governorship election in Anambra State.

He said the good thing about the congress was bringing the old and new together, stressing that it was a new beginning for the party.

“We have returned to the drawing board and taken care of all those things that have taken us backwards. We are now poised to reap from the various years of hard work to get the party together again,” he said.

Other stakeholders including Oby Mezi and Blessing Ogbaga expressed convictions that with the level of enthusiasm and efforts shown in the contests, members would wrestle power back in the next election in the state.

A former national official, Okey Muo-Aroh, described the congress, which extended till the next morning as another form of party’s convention. He was happy the outcome was peaceful, transparent and acceptable to all. He charged all members to join hands with the new executive to rebuild the party. He said it’s an open secret that every member was eager to see PDP take back power both at the state and national level.

Reacting in an exclusive interview with The Guardian shortly after his declaration as winner, Chidebe assured that his leadership would focus initially on the restoration of the dignity, unity and cohesion of the party.

He pointed out that his administration would reconcile, register more members and embark on grassroots mobilisation campaigns to win back the heart of the public immediately.

The new chairman, described his victory as an act of God, and extended hands of fellowship to his co-contestants, and others, assuring that they would work assiduously together towards ensuring that PDP bounced back to power in Anambra State politics and beyond.

He acknowledged that this was the first congress in the state without rancour, court actions or multiple factions holding congresses at separate locations the same day and time.

He said: “Our emergence was via one congress where everyone agreed to sheath swords and attend to produce one common executive. We are war weary, tired and ashamed of playing the opposition in a state that played an unprecedented role in returning Nigeria to plural party democracy. That’s why my prime focus is to bring everyone back into and under one united umbrella. It will enable us to present one common front as one powerful political front so as to surmount every form of political obstacle with ease. We have failed because we fight and oppose ourselves. At a time in the past we had produced multiple candidates and at times opposed ourselves.”

He added that those who fought against the party in the state succeeded “because we lacked the proper channels with which to communicate or receive communication from Wadata House. But henceforth I will streamline all activities and communication channels so that at any moment we know who is saying what, when and why. This will not eliminate feeding the headquarters wrong and or negative information about events in the state. So, I will remain in tune with the national secretariat to ensure nothing goes wrong again. Again, I intend to institutionalise financial transparency in all we do. I know that once an organisation fails in its financial management and administration it would have failed 50 percent of its aim and objective.

“Henceforth, quarterly I will present and publish a report on income and expenditure of the party. This will not be to the executive but to the shop floor members of the party who are the actual owners of both the party and money. This will avail them of knowing what their money was being used for.

PDP has six Board of Trustees (BOT) members in Anambra State most of who stayed awake all night to ensure the congress was held.

They included Chief Max Okudo, Senator Ben Obi, Iyom Josephine Anenih, Chief Ugochukwu Okeke, Marbel Chinelo.

Chidebe assured he would not disappoint them. He vowed to present a level playground for members to actualise their political goals, especially now that they have been out of power for long and eager to get back to winning ways.

All eyes are now on the new leadership of the party to see how far they would go in repositioning the party and restoring it to winning ways, especially with the November 2025 governorship election.