PDP’s 100th NEC Meeting, PDP Reaffirms Anyanwu as National Secretary

•Schedules another NEC for July 23 to discuss convention date 

•Wabara says party will not die, Mohammed insists crisis created for party, not by them, Saraki declares democracy won 

•South-east group: Marriage with PDP a nightmare, roots for political realignment

•Dingyadi resigns as Damagum’s spokesman 

•Police deny sealing off Abuja party secretariat

Chuks Okocha, Linus Aleke in Abuja and Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto

The leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, at its 100th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, unanimously reinstated Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary of the party.

The reinstatement was disclosed by acting National Chairman of PDP, Umar Damagum, with the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, beside him.

Damagum said upon assumption, Anyanwu would write a letter notifying the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of PDP’s national convention.

PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, insisted “this party will never die no matter what her detractors feel”. Wabara stated after the NEC meeting.

Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, also said, in a statement after the NEC meeting, “No Victor, No Vanquished, PDP, Nigerian Democracy Won.”

However, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), berated PDP for alleged serial injustice against the region, describing the zone’s marriage with the opposition party as nightmarish.

The group urged leaders of the party in the South-east to seek political alignment outside PDP ahead of the 2027 general election.

Damagum briefed reporters on the outcome of the 100th NEC meeting, especially as regards the national secretary.

He said, “We’ve all combined in one, we were all together, and we all agreed that Senator Anyanwu will continue to act as National Secretary.

“And also to bring the issue of the convention—to bring it up in the next NEC, which is slated for the 23rd of next month.

‘’At that time, we will be able to convene a proper NEC, where myself and Senator Anyanwu will sign, which is to fulfil the regulatory requirement of INEC in convening meetings.

‘’So, to our detractors, who thought this meeting would go off course or perhaps be the end of the party, the beauty of the Peoples Democratic Party is that it is the only party in this country that has the right to convene a convention; that knows the mechanism to solve its own problems and run freely.”

Damagum added, “As you can see, all our governors attended the meeting; all members of the NWC were on the same page. You will not be seeing all these press releases and counter press releases.”

Earlier, Damagum clarified that the meeting was a NEC meeting, and not an expanded national caucus, as planned.

There had been a mild misunderstanding in the BoT earlier. Chairman of the board, Wabara, had led the call for the 100th NEC, while the secretary of the BoT, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, was among those calling for the expanded national caucus of the party.

Makarfi was at the press conference, where Damagum announced the reinstatement of Anyanwu as the national secretary.

But moments later, Wabara insisted that the 100th NEC meeting would hold, as the expanded national caucus was alien to the PDP constitution.

Damagum, however, said, “I want to use this opportunity to express to you that there was a thought before now that this meeting will be an extended caucus and you can see cards flying here and there.

“The beauty of our party is that we have always handled our problems in our own ways. So after a few consultations with our leaders, the governors, leaders of other organs, we say for the synopsis, even though we’ve deferred this NEC and we had challenges, but this is our own NEC.

“And this NEC is going to deliberate on only one item so that we don’t run out of the order, regulators asking us to do this, to do that.”

Damagum said, “It is in this NEC that we will discuss when to hold a second NEC and going to convention in a most lawful and profound way. We’ll discuss that and we’ll issue the date when we conclude this meeting.”

He explained, “The issue at hand, which created a lot of tension and division within us, has been discussed and we have taken a position.

“Unfortunately, the agreement to allow the National Secretary to step in, which has been actually prompted by our meeting, which will be discussed, it was a painful decision. I will still use the opportunity to call on party faithful to stop arbitrary de-marketing of this party.

“I want the media to know, if you so much love this party, I think it is now time for you to devote your energy in propagating the beauty of this party and stop de-marketing the party, unless if you are one of those that have been contracted to come and destroy our party.

“I want to say it clearly here: enough is enough.”

Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Bala Mohammed, said, “This is a miracle of the PDP, the party that has history, that has the pedigree and the human capital to deliver Nigeria.

“We have been engrossed in controversies and challenges, not created by us, but created for us, and we have been navigating, unlike the other parties, irrespective of the manifestations and the perceptions there.

“The news of people leaving the party are all cosmetic. They are all created to diminish us. But I must thank the leaders and other all the organs of the party, especially the BoT, the caucuses of the National Assembly, and most important to my colleagues and the NWC, because everything we are doing, we are doing for the NWC today. I must tell the world that the NWC has collapsed all differences, all wrangling.

“They met before this meeting, what you have been seeing in terms of press releases have stopped and you will not see them again. And that is what the BoT chairman is telling you. We are all on the same page, no excuse for coalition, no excuse to form any stakeholders meeting other than that of the NWC.

“We are solidly behind this NWC and governors, and we’ll continue to work as the conscience of the party and other organs of the party to make sure we succeed.

“Please, be assured that PDP will not disappoint Nigerians and our teaming supporters.”

He thanked PDP governors and their state chapters for their cooperation.

Mohammed stated, “There is no element of wrangling in the state chapters. And that is where our strengths lie. We thank you, our chairman in the states, for keeping the party with or without resources and making sure that you have provided them with what is required to keep the parties intact.”

Wabara also spoke, saying, “I have always contended that this party will never die, no matter what her detractors feel. This party will never die.

“We thank the National Working Committee of our party for coming together once again, believing that Nigerians have enormous faith and hope in PDP.

“We shall survive. The god of politics is in this party. Allah of politics is in this party. For anybody, any other party, to succeed, we have to release our God to bless them. But our God knows that PDP is the beacon of hope for this country.

“What is happening here today will shock so many people. I’m sure they will start planning again to bring problems. NWCs don’t allow a crack anymore, because once they have, once they have seen us now coming together, they say, why? What happened?

“Who is the native doctor? But they don’t believe in God. Where is the native doctor that made this possible? They will start doing something to destabilise us, which we will not agree. So whatever we are doing here today, we are doing because of our service to this nation.”

In a statement, titled, “No Victor, No Vanquished, PDP, Nigerian Democracy Won,” Saraki, wrote, “This evening, our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), successfully concluded the 100th edition of its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

“It was a symbolic gathering, as the meeting could have either been the breaking point going by events of the last 48 hours or the junction to cross the Rubicon and march forward into greater heights. Our esteemed leaders chose the latter.

“Today, there was no victor and no vanquished. The winner today is the PDP. Another winner is Nigeria’s democracy because, without a vibrant opposition, democracy dies. Again, millions of our party members and supporters, who are located in all the 774 LGAs across the country also emerged winners.

“To achieve victory for the party and the great people under its golden umbrella, all the leaders at the meeting resolved to jettison our differences and rally together to pursue a common goal: forget the past, rebuild trust that might have been broken, and give peace a chance.

“I am particularly happy about the meeting for two reasons. One, we all agreed on the need for unity as a way of sending a signal to the entire nation that PDP can only wax stronger.

“This is because we have to live up to the expectations of the generality of our people as the only alternative, capable of providing good leadership to our country. Two, the spirit of give and take dominated our frank discussions.”

Saraki said, “From this point, we need to continue working further for unity, co-operation, and stability towards the next NEC meeting fixed for July 23rd. After that, we will focus on having a hitch-free National Convention.

“As the chairman of the National Reconciliation and Strategy Committee set up by the PDP Governors Forum in May, I want to appreciate all our leaders, particularly, those who have to make huge sacrifice by conceding their earlier stands on some contending issues as a way of achieving peace, unity and stability in the party.

“I thank all our leaders who chose to act in the interest of the party, even at the expense of their personal and partisan comfort. Overall, all glory be to Almighty Allah for taking us this far.”

The former senate president added, “The success of today’s NEC meeting is an indication that we have made some progress. We will continue to strive to strengthen the party and I am sure from now on, all hands will be on deck to achieve this noble purpose. We need to realise one fact: there is still a lot of work to be done. The spirit with which we achieved the peace today should be sustained from now on.

“It is good that we have disappointed the pessimists. I hope that with the outcome of today’s meeting, we have disproved the false propaganda being circulated in some quarters that those of us who chose to remain in PDP are only scheming for the death of the party as opposed to building a strong opposition.

“If this false narrative were true, the leaders who shifted positions to give peace a chance would have chosen an alternative course of action. However, we are determined to make the party a strong opposition, capable of winning the next general election and serving our people better. We only need to forge ahead along these lines.”

But Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), a South-east group, sais Ndigbo had no future in PDP. The group alleged serial injustice against the zone, and called for realignment outside the party ahead of the 2027 general election.

It observed that besides what it termed the mistreatment of the region over the position of National Secretary zoned to it, the party had no plan to remedy the injustice of its failure to zone the party’s 2023 presidential ticket to the region ahead of the 2027 election.

COSYL made its position known in a statement titled, “PDP has Used and Dumped the South East: Time To Dump the Party,” issued by its President-General, Comrade Goodluck Ibem, on Monday.

The group recounted in the statement, “We note with deep sadness that a party co-founded by one of the likes of the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, has continued to disrespect, use, and dump the South East region without regrets and redresses since the Jos 1998 Convention, when Ekwueme was thrown under the bus in the presidential primary election for the 1999 election.

“For the record, despite Ekwueme’s fate at the Jos convention, the South East gave PDP and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo 3.2 million votes, representing 78 percent of votes they cast in the 1999 presidential poll.

“In 2003, PDP got 4.5 million votes from the region towards Obasanjo’s re-election, the presence of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a revered Igbo hero on the ballot notwithstanding.

“The South East voted massively again for PDP/Umaru Yar’Adua in 2024 even when Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN, was Muhummadu Buhari’s running mate.

“PDP and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan got 4,985,246 in the South East in 2011, as opposed to 76,228 votes secured by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) despite Atiku running with Senator Ben Obi as vice presidential candidate.

“Even when several other traditionally PDP states worked against the party in favour of the APC in 2015, Dr. Jonathan’s votes in the region were so massive as against Buhari’s abysmal performance that the former president punished the region mercilessly for eight years. The region was denied an opportunity to even head a paramilitary agency, like the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, while he chose a rail line project to Niger Republic over the rehabilitation of the Eastern Rail Corridor to benefit the South East.”

COSEYL maintained that PDP’s woes amounted to “Nemesis Pro-Max”; retribution at work for the injustice done to the South-east.

It recalled that whereas the PDP 2015 Post-Election Review Committee, chaired by former Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, recommended the zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the north in 2019 as a remedy for the perceived injustice to the region in 2015, “the PDP failed a moral test by refusing to zone the ticket to the South-east in 2023 or take necessary steps to do things right with the region ahead of 2027.

“Let’s make no mistake about it, PDP’s woes of today is karma at work, given the injustice ingrained in their failure to zone the 2023 presidential ticket to the South East region. This bad fate forced the likes of Mr. Peter Obi and Engr. Dave Umahi out of the party and resulted in the electoral loss in the last general election.

“Therefore, let no one be fooled; the South East has no future in the ungrateful and unjust party.  It is high time South East PDP leaders took pragmatic steps to opt out of a party that has no regards for the region and chart a fresh political trajectory and realignment for the dignity, political redemption, and development of the region.”

The NEC meeting was attended by Governors Seyi  Makinde (Oyo), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi),  Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Caleb Muftwang (Plateau), Ahmadu Fintri (Adamawa), and Douye Diri (Bayelsa), as well as Saraki.

Others were Senator Seriaki Dickson, Senator Abba Morro, Professor Jerry Gana, Taofeek Arapaja, Labaran Maku, Sunday Ude-Okoye, Eddy Oladefesan, Ali Odefa, Senator Ben Obi, Senator Adolphus Wabara, Chief Bode George, Iyom Josephine Anenih, Kingsley Chinda, Hon. Jones Onyeriri, Senator Austin Akobundu, and former Governor Udom Emmanuel.

About 302 PDP members attended the meeting.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, were absent.

Dingyadi Resigns as PDP Chair’s Spokesman

Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to PDP National Chairman, Yusuf Dingyadi, resigned.

Dingyadi tendered his resignation in a letter dated June 25, 2025.

In the letter, addressed to Damagum, Dingyadi expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the party, but he did not disclose the reason for his resignation.

Dingyadi’s departure came amid ongoing developments within PDP, and his resignation sparked speculation about the internal politics of the party.

Police Deny Sealing Off PDP Secretariat

Nigeria Police, yesterday, denied trending allegations that it sealed off the PDP national secretariat in Abuja.

The Federal Capital Territory Police Command, in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Josephine Adeh, a Superintendent of Police, denied knowledge of the news circulating that the police had sealed off the PDP secretariat in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.

The command stated that the trending information was false, misleading, and did not reflect the true situation on the ground.

The PPRO confirmed that police officers were deployed to the venue to maintain law and order and ensure public safety in line with their constitutional mandate.

“At no time was the secretariat sealed off by the police,” she said.

The Commissioner of Police, FCT, urged the media to always verify information from the command’s police public relations officer before disseminating such.