According to insiders, the power of Umar Damagum, the acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has diminished since the Supreme Court recently denied Samuel Anyanwu’s request for a stay of execution after he was dismissed as national secretary by an appeal court decision.
Damagum’s close buddy Anyanwu was instrumental in managing the PDP National Secretariat but was fired as a result of legal issues.
With the support of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the PDP Governors’ Forum, his successor, Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye, is taking it slow because of lingering legal problems.
On February 24, 2025, the Federal High Court in Abuja’s Justice Inyang Ekwo ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to hold off on dismissing Anyanwu as the PDP National Secretary.
Political and legal ambiguity
Due to the ongoing legal disputes, Udeh-Okoye has refrained from signing important PDP documents, including as those pertaining to the upcoming zonal congresses.
His attendance at the PDP South-South Caretaker Committee’s inauguration last Thursday, however, demonstrated the party’s solid support.
To address the long-delayed meeting of the party’s top decision-making body, the NEC, the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) met in Abuja last week.
The potential invalidation of some state congress results purportedly obtained by supporters of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike is on the table, according to a party insider, with Kogi State likely to be one of the cases examined.
As a result of a petition submitted by Hon. Nurudeen Afolabi Adekambi from Ogun State on behalf of the Young Generation Caucus, the National Disciplinary Committee, led by High Chief Tom Ikimi, a close ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has recommended that Senator Anyanwu be expelled.
For concern that the legal fight will invalidate important procedures, the majority of governorship candidates for the 2018 Anambra election have refrained from making official statements due to the uncertainty surrounding the National Secretary job.
In the House of Representatives, a fervent Wike supporter rejected continuous attempts to lessen Wike’s political clout both nationally and in the South-South.
Anyanwu and other Wike supporters, he maintained, were purposefully remaining silent for strategic reasons.
“A number of people, including Senator Anyanwu, are remaining silent for strategic reasons,” he stated. “We know that some people must, at the very least, temporarily defend what they were’mobilized’ to do.”
The only governor from the South East, one from the South West, and the South-South governors who are showing loyalty to one of them, Fubara, who may unavoidably be headed for his impeachment hearing, are the ones who exerted pressure on Damagum, as we are aware.
“Enjoy it while it lasts, everyone, but take note that Udeh-Okoye, who admitted at their South-South caretakers’ inauguration on Thursday that he was at least a National Secretary for the day, will not sign any official PDP documents that are headed to INEC.”
Read Also: Being Police Officer Wasn’t My Dream – Nigeria’s Top Female Cop Opens Up
Additionally, only two or three people have bothered to select PDP candidacy papers for governor, as the secretaryship contest may render them worthless.
Despite the current situation, he added, Wike’s influence has not diminished.
“In Rivers State, the Wike factor is still very strong,” the congressman continued. The South-South cannot be overthrown by any caretaker committee, and a ruling in Anyanwu’s favor by the Supreme Court would force them to return to their conspiracy enclaves on a national scale.
“They are attempting to move quickly because they are aware that Senator Anyanwu will probably disprove them at the Supreme Court in the near future.”
