Tension at PDP secretariat as Anyanwu resumes

• Ologunagba accuses APC of sponsoring crises in PDP 
Tension walked on all fours at Wadata House, the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Abuja, yesterday, following the resumption of the embattled National Secretary, Sen Sam Anyanwu, despite the judgment of the Court of Appeal .

Anyanwu arrived at the secretariat at about 10:56 a.m. and headed straight to his office, where he was received by his staff.

This was as the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of sponsoring crises in the opposition party.

There was an unusual presence of security personnel amid protests by some youth to prevent Sunday Ude-Okoye from assuming office as the national secretary.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “No vacancy in the National Secretary’s office” and “Senator Sam Anyanwu remains the National Secretary.”

Speaking to reporters, Anyanwu dismissed a statement credited to Ologunagba that Ude-Okoye had become the party’s secretary courtesy of the appellate court’s judgment.

Ologunagba had confirmed to reporters that the party received the court judgment recognising Ude-Okoye as National Secretary.

In response, Anyanwu said: “That is his opinion. It is not the opinion of the party. As National Publicity Secretary of the party, I would not want to disparage him. Maybe he did not get the facts right or he never knew that the matter had been appealed at the Supreme Court. He is a lawyer, so he should understand that is the position of the law.”

Insisting that he remains the Secretary of PDP, Anyanwu added: “As you can see, I am in the office. Just like you heard on December 20, the Court of Appeal in Enugu took a dissenting judgment, but what the law says is that I should appeal, and I appealed the matter for a stay of execution at the Supreme Court. What it means is that the position will remain as it is until it is determined by the Supreme Court. Today is our resumption day.”

According to him, PDP belongs to the people, not an individual or group.

He noted: “This is the only party that took power away from the military and this party is in every family in Nigeria. So, I always ask our party faithful to be strong, to remain firm with the party, so we can work towards 2027. We can get the presidency, which all of us have been suffering from, and that is why we are here anyway.”

But Ologunagba said: “We have not received any stay of execution. Anyanwu’s resumption is unfortunate; this is not the time for the party to go through this kind of embarrassing situation. We are a country of rule of law and order

“If you have a stay of execution, it is a process. You have to serve the parties involved. PDP has not received either a notice of motion for a stay or served a stay of execution. I do not know where that is coming from, but the party has a process. When the document comes in, I will be made aware through the legal adviser. As we speak, I have no information at this time that the party has been served either a motion for stay or a stay of execution.”

However, Ologunagba accused APC of sponsoring the crises in the PDP, probably to realise its rumoured plan for a one-party state.

He alleged: “We see the hand of the third force in this matter. We suspect that, unfortunately, some party members are being used by the ruling party to disturb us, so that the party will have issues going into the next election because of the fundamental failure of the APC.”