THE controversy surrounding the status of today’s National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting, has torn the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, apart as two factions within the party have resolved to proceed with two parallel NEC meetings.
The decision comes amid growing tensions over party leadership and procedural disagreements with INEC.
This came as Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, rising from a closed-door meeting with Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara; and the South East Zonal Chairman of the party, Chief Ali Odefa, among others, at the Government House, Enugu, yesterday, said he stood fully by the position of the National Working Committee, NWC, the Board of Trustees, and South East Zonal Executive Committee, ZEC, on the crisis rocking the party.
While the National Working Committee, NWC, is convening the National executive Committee, NEC, meeting, Senator Anyanwu, who was controversially reinstated by Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, has summoned an expanded caucus meeting.
Recall that the Acting National Chairman of the party, Amb. Umar Damagum, had reinstated Anyanwu as the party’s national secretary last week and shifted the NEC meeting scheduled for today, But the National Working Committee, NWC, and Board of Trustees, BoT, rejected this and insisted that the NEC meeting holds today.
According to a notice issued on last night by Senator Anyanwu, the meeting will involve statutory members of the National caucus, deputy national officers, members of the Board of Trustees, BoT, state chairmen, members of the National Assembly caucus, former National Working Committee, NWC, members, national ex-officio members, former governors, and immediate past gubernatorial candidates.
The notice said attendance was strictly by invitation, underscoring the urgency and exclusivity of the deliberations.
However, the expanded caucus meeting, and the 100th National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting, also scheduled for 30 June, remain mired in controversy due to internal leadership disputes and procedural irregularities flagged by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The commission had rejected the PDP’s notification for the NEC meeting because it was signed solely by Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, without the mandatory co-signature of the national secretary, in line with INEC’s 2022 Regulations.
The development triggered tensions within the party, with National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, insisting that INEC had no authority to interfere in the party’s internal affairs.
Damagum, however, disowned Ologunagba’s statement, describing it as unauthorised.
The crisis deepened when Damagum announced the reinstatement of Senator Anyanwu as National Secretary and postponed the NEC meeting, decisions that were swiftly rejected by 11 NWC members and the BoT.
They maintained that the NEC meeting would proceed as planned, citing the supremacy of NEC resolutions as enshrined in the PDP Constitution.
Matters took a dramatic turn when PDP staff at the national headquarters staged a walkout in protest, accusing Anyanwu of being a destabilising force within the party.
Despite the backlash, Anyanwu has continued to enjoy the backing of influential allies, including the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
However, a National Working Committee, NWC, member told Vanguard yesterday that the National Executive Committee, of the party woud hold today as orginally planned.
In an exclusive interview with Vanguard in Abuja yesterday, PDP National Financial Secretary, Daniel Woyengikuro, addressed the controversy, clarified that the NEC meeting was a continuation of an earlier adjourned session which must go ahead without obstruction.
Woyengikuro dismissed claims that INEC had advised the party not to recognise the signature of the Acting National Secretary, Arc. Setonji Koshoedo, describing them as false and misleading.
The National Working Committee, NWC, member accused unnamed party members of fuelling confusion by attempting to downgrade the NEC meeting to an ‘expanded caucus’ session, allegedly citing INEC as justification.
“They’re claiming INEC said this or that, but we’ve just heard that INEC has denied making any such statements.
“Doesn’t it make you wonder who’s behind this confusion? The people causing this nonsense are now trying to change the meeting’s purpose, citing INEC as their justification. This is unacceptable,” he said.
He further urged transparency from the Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, calling on him to clarify what INEC purportedly told him during the party’s 100th NEC meeting scheduled for today.
“He (Damagum) should come to the meeting and explain to us exactly what INEC told him. Meanwhile, the NGO, Initiative for Ethics and Value Orientation, that wrote to INEC has received a response confirming that the electoral commission never made such statements.
”This response is all over social media and in the public domain. There’s no room for ambiguity here,” Woyengikuro added.
INEC, in the letter addressed to the civil society organisation, categorically denied issuing any advisory to the PDP regarding Koshoedo’s signature.
The letter, signed by INEC Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, stated that ‘the document under reference was not in its records’, effectively validating Koshoedo’s appointment as Acting National Secretary.
Woyengikuro emphasised the need to uphold the party’s constitution, which stipulates that the Deputy National Secretary should act in the absence of a substantive national secretary.
“The constitution is clear: in the absence of the secretary, the deputy national secretary acts. Since there’s currently a dispute over who holds the secretary position, the deputy national secretary should step in.
”It’s a straightforward matter. Anyone trying to bypass this process is undermining the party’s constitution and creating unnecessary divisions,” he said.
The controversy originated from INEC’s initial rejection of the PDP’s NEC meeting notification, citing procedural irregularities.
The notification was signed solely by Acting National Chairman, Damagum, without the required co-signature of the national secretary, as outlined in INEC’s 2022 Regulations.
This triggered a backlash, with PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, asserting that INEC lacked authority to interfere in internal party affairs.
However, Damagum publicly disowned Ologunagba’s statement as unauthorised and announced the reinstatement of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as national secretary, and also postponed the NEC meeting.
These moves were promptly rejected by 11 members of the National Working Committee, NWC, and the PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, who insisted that the meeting would go ahead today, citing the supremacy of NEC resolutions under the PDP constitution.
The ongoing dispute over the national secretary position highlights deep factional divisions within the PDP leadership.