Fight for Soul of the PDP Rages On

Chuks Okocha writes on the current proxy war in the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party and how it has polarised the once vibrant party.

The leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party is symptomatic of the struggle to control the party ahead of the 2027 general elections. Simply put, it’s all about who will control the party structures and organs in the forthcoming polls.

It is a proxy war, where the actors will use all necessary powers to remove anyone seen as an obstacle. It is a shadow fight between the former vice president, AtikuAbubukar over his perceived presidential ambition and some governors of the party who are also nursing the ambition to clinch the party’s presidential ticket in the 2027 election.

Also in this political chess board within the PDP is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, NyesomWike, though he had said severally in the recent past that he will not contest the presidential poll, but will do every thing humanly possible to see to the success of his principal, President Bola Tinubu.

It’s been said that the very day the crisis in the PDP is resolved, Wike would be less attractive in the ruling All Progressives Congress, so, the crisis will by no means abate.

The struggle over who becomes the national secretary of the party, which is a battle between the incumbent, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and the claimant, Hon. Sunday Ude-Okoye reflected where the concerned stakeholders belong. It is generally believed that Anyanwu represents the Wike camp, who is his political man Friday.

On the other hand, Ude Okoye is said to belong to the Atiku camp. If Anyanwu is eventually removed, it will pave way for the Atiku camp to have an in road into the control of the party.

The struggle for the soul of the PDP is three fold. Some governors on one hand, Wike and Atiku camps, all fighting to control the party.

Under the circumstances, both Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye are all pawns in the PDP chess board, This explains why none of the claimants will easily give way to the other.

It is therefore not surprising when Anyanwu, accused PDP governors and the Board of Trustees (BoT) of orchestrating efforts to remove him due to his close relationship with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), NyesomWike. Anyanwu claimed that the calls for the inauguration of Udeh-Okoye as the substantive National Secretary, following his affirmation by the Court of Appeal, are part of a “proxy war” led by governors and the BoT against him.

In this internal strife, driven by factions loyal to Wike and those resisting his influence within the party. Anyanwu, has been perceived as a key ally of the former Rivers State governor, who was instrumental to his unsuccessful bid for the Imo State governorship seat.

Anyanwu has insisted that his detractors are solely motivated by his association with Wike. According to the embattled national secretary, “The truth of the matter is that these people are fighting a proxy war. They know my relationship with Wike. That’s all. I don’t have any issue with any of them”.

He dismissed the legitimacy of the Governors’ and BoT’s actions, arguing that neither holds constitutional authority within the PDP.

According to him: “The governors’ forum is a voluntary organization. Any governor can decide to be a member. It’s not a compulsory thing. It’s a social gathering.

Anyanwu emphasized that he has held the position of National Secretary long before most of the current governors took office.

“I know these people. The party gave them tickets to become governors. I was National Secretary before most of them became governors,” he stated.

Anyanwu alleged that the state governors are manufacturing crises within the PDP as a precursor to defecting and establishing their own political parties. He said, “There is no issue in the party. They are just creating tension, causing unnecessary problems for them to go to the respective parties they want to form”.

Anyanwu also cast the same aspersions on the Board of Trustees of the party, claiming that the tenure of most of them have expired and that they are working towards a vested interest. He maintained that the BoT is an advisory body in the party and has no executive powers.

According to him, ‘’executive lies in the NWC, the National Executive Committee and the National Convention”, explaining that any other organ of the party is a ‘mere shadow boxing’.

Polarisation of the party

The party’s proxy war has given rise to all pressure groups and organs trying to identify with either Anyanwu or Ude-Okoye.

In this light, a fierce internal battle now rages within the PDP after last Wednesday’s controversial Board of Trustees (BOT) resolution seeking to unseat Anyanwu.

A blistering statement issued by the party’s South East Zonal Legal Adviser, UkpaiUkairo leveled a scathing attack on the BOT’s decision taken at a meeting attended by a selectively invited few members as  “porous, illegal and lacking foundation in law and morality.”

Also, members of the PDP Coalition of Youth for Good Governance have emphatically warned the BoT not to take a position that would undermine possibilities of peaceful resolution of the conflict by respecting the Court of Appeal order which granted Senator Samuel Anyanwu a stay of execution on the Enugu Court of Appeal judgment.

The group leader, Mr. Emmanuel Mba, emphasized on Friday that the tenure of most of the BoT members have expired, in view of Section 32(4) of the party Constitution which states that “all members of the Board of Trustees shall serve a term of five years and no more”.

However, in the opinion of PDP’s South East Zonal Legal Adviser, UkpaiUkairo, the mere act of taking the PDP BoT’s meeting to an hotel instead of the party’s national secretariat amply recommends the BoT Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, for serious disciplinary sanctions while the purported resolutions is ‘an accursed document’.

Pointing out that the BOT showed a complete disrespect to the office of the National Legal Adviser, and to the offices of all Legal Advisers elected by the PDP at different levels by disregarding or ignoring their advice and functions as stated in Article 42(1)(a) of PDP Constitution, Ukairo submitted that “unless, there is a program to foist lawlessness on and disrespect of the Constitution of PDP, the BOT communique must be thrown overboard.”

He went further: “The BOT meeting held at an hotel was not an official meeting of the BOT of PDP, it was, rather, the gathering of like-minded friends who are members of the BOT; I have initiated an immediate legal process under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the hotel to disclose who paid for that venue in order to demonstrate beyond doubt that what happened at the hotel was not a meeting of the BOT of PDP.

“Let me stress that the letter/report of the learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (AlhajiKabiruTanimuTuraki) was addressed thus: Senator Adolphus Wabara, Chairman, Board of Trustees of BOT, Peoples Democratic Party, National Headquarters, Wadata, Plaza; regrettably, we were not told why the Chairman took the official meeting of the BOT to an hotel.

“I dare suggest that this act of the Chairman of the BOT offends several sub-sections of Section 58 of the PDP Constitution and on that pedestal, appropriate disciplinary procedure ought to be initiated against him at the appropriate level;  in the light of the foregoing, I am compelled by force of law to advice that the communique is an accursed document that has no place in the arsenal of any self-respecting institution,” he stated.

Ukairo’s detailed statement emphatically casts serious doubt on both the legal and constitutional propriety of the decision.

“The communique is a manifest breach of law, settled rules of engagement and accordingly unfounded and unsupportable: it should be treated with disdain by all institutions and bodies that have respect for the rule of law”, he argued, picking several points to underline reasons why the BoT meeting and the report submitted to it by a one-man committee constituted by former minister and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, KabiruTanimuTuraki, may have no serious legal significance against embattled PDP National Secretary, Anyanwu.

“I, like other members of the PDP, and the general public read the communique of the BOT, but I dismissed it with a wave of hand as not worth the paper upon which it was written; however, I later discovered that several persons are being misled by its content and, therefore, it became imperative that as the Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, South East Zone, I have a constitutional duty to intervene in the discourse and that my failure to do so will be inconsistent with democratic norms and a dereliction of my functions,” Ukairo stated.

Pointing out reasons why the latest BoT communique is allegedly ‘porous, illegal and lacks foundation in law and morality,’ he outlined its shortcomings to include gross misrepresentation of the content of court processes, adding that by using his personal professional stamp and signature on a report submitted to Wabara, Turaki was only acting as a private legal practitioner rather than being an official one-man committee for a party organ.

At the heart of Ukairo’s attack is what he described as a fundamental misrepresentation of judicial orders, pointing out that while the BOT resolution asserts that the court’s judgment was solely declaratory, the orders were both declaratory and executory, he noted that Anyanwu’s appeal had already been filed with the Supreme Court, thereby suspending any lower-court judgments in favour of Udeh-Okoye from taking effect.

He also dismissed claims that Udeh-Okoye’s nomination was the result of a properly conducted Zonal Executive Committee (ZEC) meeting, adding that according to Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the election or filling of any party office must be conducted in a fully democratic manner.

“There was nothing democratic about the attempt to enthrone Udeh-Okoye into the office of National Secretary,” he declared.

Ukairo, therefore, urged Anyanwu to stand firm in his position, adding that he expects more top-ranking PDP members—especially those from the South East—to join him in rejecting what he termed an “accursed document” that undermines the very fabric of the party’s constitution and democratic principles.

 “I advise Senator Anyanwu not to yield his office in the unconstitutional manner propagated by the BOT; I have the legal standing to render this advice because  Anyanwu, the National Secretary of the PDP is a member of South East Zonal Executive Committee (ZEC),” Ukairo added.

However, another chieftain of the party from Imo state, ObinnaMaduka countered Ukairo, stating that the Powers of the BoT as enshrined in the party’s constitution is superior to that of the NWC

He said that BoT has specific powers enshrined in the party’s constitution starting with the membership and composition.

According to him, ‘’The BoT includes a diverse membership such as- Past and serving Presidents and Vice Presidents of Nigeria who were or are still PDP members, Past and serving National Chairmen, Deputy National Chairmen, National Secretaries, Presidents of the Senate, Speakers of the House of Representatives,Founding fathers and mothers, and ⁠Representatives from each geo-political zone”. He further explained that this composition reflects Nigeria’s federal character.

Authority Over Party’s Conduct

The BoT has the inherent authority and powers to ensure the highest standards of morality in all party activities. It can call to order any officer of the party whose conduct falls below the norms, as stated under Section 32 (5)(a) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017).

Advisory Role:

The BoT serves as an advisory body to the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) and staff, acting as the “conscience of the party.” It provides guidance and counsel on party matters.

Recognition and Enforcement of Party Positions:

The BoT has the power to recognize and enforce decisions related to party positions, such as in the case of the National Secretary, where it can confirm or challenge the NWC’s decisions based on judicial outcomes or party guidelines.

Decision-Making:

The BoT can make decisions on various party issues, including the endorsement or recognition of party officials, as seen in the case of Ude-Okoye being confirmed as the National Secretary after court rulings.

Accordingly, Maduka said, ‘’These powers are derived from the PDP’s constitutional provisions that aim to maintain the party’s integrity, uphold its principles, and ensure that its operations is aligned with its foundational documents’’.

However, in another submission, a chieftain of the party,  Dr Peter Odukoya said, ‘’For those that care to listen and want to be educated; not those paid agents please; amongst the powers of the Board is: Section 32(5)(a) (c) which is: Ensure highest standards of morality in all the activities of the Party by acting as the conscience of the party, with power to call to order any officer of the party whose conduct falls below the norms.  This is executive power and to also harmonise, co-ordinate and review policies, programmes and activities of the Party at the National level.

According to Odukoya, ‘’This means the BOT can call any officer, including a National Chairman to order if his or her standards falls below the expected norms. The BOT is also responsible for co-ordinating and reviewing the activities of the Party at the National level.

‘’Secondly, in Chapter 4 of our Party’s Constitution at  pages13 – 14, Part II  where the hierarchical and organisational structure of the party is arranged, from the least powerful to the most powerful, it can be seen that the BOT is the third highest organ of the Party, higher than the NWC and only inferior to NEC and Convention.  This also confirms the flow of command/provisional powers.

‘’This is what forms the opinion of us organizing our scheduled meetings leading to NEC in this manner: NWC first, National Caucus second, BOT third and finally NEC.

‘’It is therefore important to note that the BOT is not advisory, rather an executive arm with a constitutional disciplinary power (call to order)”.

From all indications, the crisis is not abating yet as none of the groups in the power game is willing to give up the fight. As some have said, let the party’s NEC sack all leadership organs of the party and the BoT, since it’s tenure had expired since October last year.