South East Zonal leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) Tuesday, 20Th February, 2024, met in Enugu, with a call on Senator Samuel Anyanwu to stop parading himself as the National Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). The meeting reaffirmed the nomination of S.K.E. Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary of the PDP
Pix- 1- Gov Mbah'(L)
Pix 2- The PDP South East Leaderships
This was contained in a 7-point communique presented to newsmen by the National Vice Chairman (South East), Dr Ali Odefa, at the end of the meeting held at the Government Old Lodge, Enugu .
The meeting which was presided over by the National Vice Chairman (South East), Dr Ali Odefa, and the Party Zonal Leader, the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, reviewed the state of the Party in the Zone and the country,Nigeria, and came up with the following resolutions:
Pix- Senator Osita Ngwu(Enugu West) addressing the gathering
The meeting reiterated and reconfirmed its decisions in its earlier meeting held on 20th October, 2023, which asked Senator Samuel Anyanwu to stop parading himself as the National Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), as he has relinquished the office by virtue of the Constitution of the PDP, which has been upheld by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The South East PDP affirmed the nomination of S.K.E. Udeh-Okoye as his replacement for the National Secretary of the Party, to serve out the remainder of his term, in accordance with the Party’s Constitution.
The zonal Leadership maintained that the Constitution of PDP is very clear on the matter of resignation of an elected national party official, who vied or is vying for an election, as presented in Section 47(5) which states that any elected PDP national officer who wishes to contest an elective office must resign. It gives the power to determine the length of notice of the resignation to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party, to be contained in the guidelines.
Pix- National Vice Chairman (South East)
Dr. Odega in a speech
“On the basis of the above, the PDP Governorship primary guidelines in clause VI (1) provides among others as follows: “Pursuant to S.47(5) of the Peoples’ Democratic Party Constitution (2017 as amended), which mandatorily required resignation of any elected national officer of the party vying for elective office, any aspirant who is a party office holder/ Executive Committee member at any level shall resign his or her office or appointment seven (7) days before the purchase of expression of Interest form and shall provide proof of resignation along with his or her completed EOI form before being allowed to procure the nomination form. Failure to adhere to this provision shall be grounds for automatic disqualification of such an aspirant.”
” Not only did Senator Anyanwu purchase the expression of Interest Form, he also bought the Nomination Form, contested the Primaries, and became the PDP Governorship candidate in the Imo State Governorship election that held last year. Even though his resignation was automatic, based on the Constitution and Guidelines of PDP and the operation of law, Senator Anyanwu promised the Leaders of the South East Zone of the Party and the PDP Governors’ Forum that he will formally resign before the Imo State elections.
” Furthermore, a court of competent jurisdiction, the Enugu State High Court, on 28th December 2023, in a considered opinion, held that Senator Anyanwu, by standing for the Governorship primaries of the PDP, “had elected on his own volition to vacate the office of National Secretary.” The Court further ordered that S.K.E. Udeh- Okoye be recognised as the National Secretary of the Party.
“However, in a judgment that presumably was obtained per in curiam and in abuse of court process, a Federal High Court, Abuja, about 2 weeks later, on 9th January, 2024, declared that Senator Anyanwu should remain the National Secretary. We note that the Enugu High Court’s judgment was first in time, and both courts are of coordinate jurisdiction. Besides, INEC is not a necessary party, as all that is required is to inform INEC of the State High Court judgment”, the PDP Zonal Leadership said
They urged the National Working Committee of the Party, the PDP Governors’ Forum, the PDP Board of Trustees, and all organs and stakeholders of the Party, to recognise S.K.E Udeh- Okoye as the authentic National Secretary of the PDP.
“This is in line with the Constitution of the Party and the practice of the party, which was recently accorded to the South-South and South-West zones of the Party on the matter of the replacement of the Party Leadership following a vacancy.
Pix- Imo state delegation
Pix-Ebonyi delegates
Pix 3- Anambra delegation
“We strongly believe as loyal Party members that it is in the interest of the Party to uphold the nomination of the Zone to forestall external forces cashing in to destabilise the Party,” the South Eadt leadership said.
Author: Maureen Ikpeama