PDP NWC meets over secretaryship, congresses, Anambra poll
• Drags Nwoko to court, seeks by-election for Delta North senate seat
• Wike blasts party’s govs, calls NWC ‘stupid’
National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, rose from its first meeting in over five months with an impression of a quick return to peace. But the security situation around Wadata Plaza, where the closed-door meeting was held, painted a different story.
Also, the party urged the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to declare the Delta North senatorial seat occupied by Ned Nwoko vacant due to his recent defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has accused PDP governors of attempting to destroy the party, describing their recent actions as self-serving and detrimental to the party’s survival.
A few hours before the NWC meeting, suspected thugs took over the entire building and prevented easy access by members. The Court of Appeal-sanctioned new secretary of the party, Sunday Ude-Okoye, who eventually attended the meeting, was reportedly warned, along with his colleagues, to stay away by aides to the former secretary, Sam Anyanwu.
However, the situation recorded a sudden reversal following the arrival of security men who arrested the leader of the suspected thugs. This development is the latest in the ongoing leadership crisis within the PDP, which has seen Anyanwu laying claim to the position of national secretary after an appellate court in Enugu ruled otherwise.
However, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment on the case.The meeting, which was also the first after the Supreme Court threw out a motion for a stay of execution of a High Court judgment removing Anyanwu from office as National Secretary, was dramatic because of Ude-Okoye’s official welcome to the seat.
Although the agenda for the meeting was not made public, The Guardian gathered that arrangements for the coming Anambra governorship election and the pending Supreme Court case over the secretaryship tussle were discussed.
The conduct of the zonal congresses was equally discussed, it was learnt. PDP in suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/454/2025, through its counsel, Dr Ayo Asala (SAN), prayed the court to immediately order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a by-election to fill the position Nwoko was occupying.
The originating summons dated February 27, 2025, has the PDP as the plaintiff with Nwoko, President of the Senate and the INEC before the Court as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively. PDP also prayed the court to direct Nwoko to return all salaries, allowances and other emoluments he received as a senator from the date he defected to APC.
SPEAKING during a media session monitored in Abuja, yesterday, Wike also took a swipe at the PDP NWC, calling it “stupid” for the decision to conduct another South-South Zonal Congress.
The former Rivers State governor alleged that the present set of PDP governors lacked commitment to the party’s survival, unlike during his tenure. Wike said, “This is a set of governors that wants PDP to die. Their only interest is to kill the PDP. I was a governor when the ruling party under President Muhammadu Buhari tried to destroy the PDP using Ali Modu Sheriff. I stood my ground. I never went to the Villa, never begged for help. I even stopped attending NEC and Council of State meetings because I feared for my life. But I was determined to make PDP survive.” He accused some PDP leaders of playing double-faced politics, saying they speak one thing publicly but act differently in private.
“Forget about these people who say one thing in the day and do another thing at night. I have never played two roles, and I never will. During the 2023 PDP presidential primaries, I never asked for money or conditions. My belief was that the Presidency should go to the South. I knew who was likely to win, so I played my game openly. But look at these governors today – they have one leg here and another there. What kind of character is that?” Wike dismissed the obsession with the South-South Zonal Congress, insisting that the PDP should focus on more pressing issues rather than power struggles.
“All they are interested in is the zonal congress. Rubbish! PDP needs to wake up,” he said. Cautioned to mind his language on television, he retorted: “What will they do when they don’t have credibility? I didn’t call their names, but they know themselves.”
Wike accused PDP governors of failing to act as a strong opposition and instead prioritising personal ambitions over party interests. He warned that he could expose their roles in the ongoing crisis.
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