By Felix Durumbah
It was a show of shame at the Abuja National Secretariat of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday, January 29, as a free-for-all broke out between rival supporters of two party titans jostling for the position of National Secretary of the opposition party.
Passers-by were obviously embarrassed by the eye sore for a political party bidding to take over power amid the acclaimed poor performance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as fists flew,voices rang out in high tones,dresses were rumpled with shoving and pushing, and strings of curses hurled in the generally despicable atmosphere which engulfed the place.
The incident occurred while a meeting of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) was ongoing.
Former Senate President and respected politician, Senator Adolphus Wabara, is chairman of the BoT.
The stage for the altercation was set when Sunday Ude-Okoye, who was recently endorsed by the party’s South-East caucus as National Secretary yo replace Senator Samuel Anyanwu, was forcibly removed from the meeting by the latter’s supporters and some thugs.
Recall that the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu had on December 20, 2024, upheld an earlier decision of the High Court which ousted Anyanwu from the position and affirmed Ude-Okoye as the valid National Secretary –a decision that Anyanwu filed for a stay of execution and appealed.
Following the development, he continued to sit as National Secretary.
For Wednesday’s meeting, Ude-Okoye arrived the venue before Anyanwu and PDP acting National Chairman, Ambassador Iliya Damagum.
However, when Anyanwu eventually arrived, thugs suspected to be loyal to him ejected Ude-Okoye from the meeting, spurring a flurry of hot exchange of words.
Apparently sensing that he would physically lose out, Ude-Okoye screamed for his supporters to halt his ejection, a situation that saw them move in,thus sparking a ‘fightback’ and the resultant free-for-all.
It would be recalled that issues arose around the National Secretary seat when Anyanwu quit to run for governor of Imo State,but lost the bid as the electoral umpire declared APC’s Hope Uzodinma winner.
While he was away, the National Vice-Chairman (South-East) Ali Odefa-led South-East caucus, to which he belongs, named Ude-Okoye to replace him.
Nonetheless, Anyanwu insisted on resuming duties as National Secretary and has been doing so,despite verdicts by two courts.
Rising from Wednesday’s meeting, Sen. Wabara said the party had raised a committee led by Tanimu Turaki, a former Minister under President Goodluck Jonathan, to resolve the impasse over the seat and report back as soon as possible.
Reading from the meeting’s communique, Wabara added that Damagum had assured the BoT that the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) would meet in February, 2025, to iron out other thorny issues besetting the country’s once dominant party.
