Loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, have pushed back against the decision of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to affirm Sunday Ude-Okoye as the party’s National Secretary.
Henzodaily learnt that the loyalists insist that Samuel Anyanwu remains the legitimate occupant of the position until a national convention is held.
PDP Governors, in a meeting held on Friday, endorsed Ude-Okoye as the official national secretary of the party.
The dispute has further exposed deep divisions within the PDP as party factions battle for control amid an already fragile leadership structure.
Prominent PDP figures, including Deputy National Youth Leader Timothy Osadolor and former Deputy National Publicity Secretary Diran Odeyemi, have cautioned the governors against worsening the party’s internal crisis.
The PDP chieftain in an interview with Punch said, “The central issue in the crisis is the matter of the secretary, and unfortunately, the PDP governors, in their decision to adopt Sunday Ude-Okoye as the National Secretary, are not being sincere.
“Anyanwu contested the Imo State governorship election as the National Secretary of the PDP; he didn’t resign because the constitution of the party doesn’t say he should resign. That is an aspect that these people are hiding from the public.
“The PDP constitution doesn’t mandate whoever is holding a party position to resign before contesting government offices. If you don’t resign from a position, it means it isn’t vacant. Can you fill a position that is not vacant? Anyanwu didn’t resign from his position. So, you can’t replace him. The first thing for those people to do is to remove him in accordance with the law of the party and thereafter replace him.
“The PDP governors claimed they accepted the court judgment on the National Secretary; if that is the case, they are not supposed to have adopted Ude-Okoye because there is a stay of execution on the judgment.”
The PDP chieftain, who spoke anonymously, added, “The position of the law is that if a stay of execution has been filed, the judgment cannot come into effect until the stay of execution is decided. That is because if you had executed the judgment before the stay of execution was decided, then it would become a fait accompli if the verdict was decided in favour of the applicant.
“The judgment of the Appeal Court that these people are talking about cannot take effect because a stay of execution process has been filed.”