By Kolawole Ojebisi
Embattled National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Sam Anyanwu, has stated the purported reasons why the party’s governors and Board of Trustees (BoT) are making desperate moves to unseat him.
Anyanwu spoke during an interview with Saturday Tribune.
Anyanwu noted that the plot to remove him and install Udeh-Okoye as the party’s substantive secretary is part of a grand proxy war led by the PDP governors and BoT against the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.
He noted that his intimate relationship with Wike prompted the tussle over the party’s secretaryship.
Anyanwu maintained that Wike is the target of his political adversaries.
The PDP has been grappling with internal strife, driven by factions loyal to Wike and those resisting his influence within the party.
Anyanwu, who is perceived as a key ally of the former Rivers State governor, has been asked to vacate his position as the secretary through the resolution of the governors elected on the platform of the PDP.
The governors’ resolution was later supported by the party’s BoT days after.
Wike is believed to be instrumental to Anyanwu’s unsuccessful bid for the Imo State governorship seat.
Reacting to the development in the PDP, Anyanwu insisted that his detractors are solely motivated by his association with Wike.
“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 said.
He dismissed the legitimacy of the governors’ and BoT’s actions, arguing that neither holds constitutional authority within the PDP.
“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,” he explained. Anyanwu emphasized that he has held his position as National Secretary since 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. “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,” he claimed.
Recall that the controversy intensified after the PDP Governors Forum, during a meeting in Asaba, Delta State, endorsed Udeh-Okoye as National Secretary.
This endorsement came on the heels of a Court of Appeal ruling in Enugu that recognized Udeh-Okoye as the legitimate officeholder.
Udeh-Okoye’s appointment follows Anyanwu’s temporary resignation to contest the 2024 Imo State governorship election.
After his electoral defeat, Anyanwu sought to reclaim the National Secretary position, despite the South-East Zone’s nomination of Udeh-Okoye in line with party protocols.
The BoT reinforced the governors’ decision by adopting the report of a committee led by Barr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), which supported the court’s ruling in favour of Udeh-Okoye.
Regarding the proposed National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting as recommended by the governors, Anyanwu revealed that the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) has yet to convene to set the process in motion.
