Senator Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has resumed office on Friday at the party’s Wadata Plaza national secretariat, following the Supreme Court judgement on the secretaryship.
This development reportedly follows after a long-standing battle for the position, which had been contested by Sunday Udeh-Okoye, the party’s former National Youth Leader.
Anyanwu had remained defiant, insisting on his right to the position despite the Appeal Court’s earlier ruling in favour of Udeh-Okoye.
The party had been battling with a leadership crisis, with the National Working Committee (NWC) and the PDP’s governors affirming Udeh-Okoye as the authentic National Secretary.
Upon assuming the office, Anyanwu expressed appreciation to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike for the support the minister gave him during his travails.
He called on all leaders of the PDP to abandon the oath of hostilities and support him in rebuilding the PDP as secretary.
Meanwhile, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement on Friday, argued that the Supreme Court’s judgement was a validation of Sunday Ude-Okoye as the party’s secretary.
“Today’s judgment of the Supreme Court reaffirms the standing position of the Party and emphatically settles the emergence of Rt. Hon. SKE Udeh Okoye as the substantiative National Secretary of the PDP having been duly nominated, endorsed and ratified through the internal mechanism of the PDP statutory Organs and bodies in line with provisions of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017),” he said.
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Ologunagba said that the NWC at its 576th meeting held on the 11th of October, 2023, directed the South East Zonal Executive Committee to nominate a replacement for Senator Samuel Anyanwu upon Senator Anyanwu’s nomination as the governorship candidate of the PDP to contest the November 2023 Governorship election in Imo State.
“Consequent upon the directive of the NWC, the South East Zonal Executive Committee at its meeting held on the 20th of October 2023 passed a resolution approving the emergence and forwarding of the name of Rt. Hon. SKE Udeh Okoye to the NWC as the National Secretary of the Party.
Accordingly, the NWC at its 577th meeting held on 7th of November 2023 pursuant to its powers under the PDP Constitution, duly received, deliberated upon, accepted and approved the emergence of Rt. Hon. SKE Udeh Okoye as the National Secretary of the Party, which appointment has also since been endorsed by relevant Organs and bodies of the PDP including the Board of Trustees (BoT), South East Zonal Caucus, the PDP Governors’ Forum and officially communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the general public,” he stated.
