PDP Leadership Crisis: BOT Meeting Turns Chaotic, Witness Fisticuffs

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Following the protracted leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the meeting of the Party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), which held on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, turned chaotic and became uncontrollable.

The chaos arose from the attempt by two dramatic personae to get the stamp of authority and recognition from the BoT as the authentic National Secretary of the PDP position.

Accordingly, the development degenerated into a heated argument, altercation and later fisticuffs by some sponsored political thugs that invaded the conference hall of the PDP National Secretariat of the PDP where the meeting was taking place.

The meeting which was being chaired by its Chairman and former President of the Senate, Senator Adolphus Wabara, was programmed to address key party issues, but no sooner had the meeting started that tensions flared between two factions over the contested position of National Secretary.
The fisticuffs took the centre stage when Hon. Sunday Ude-Okoye, the Party’s former National Youth Leader and a contender for the National Secretary position, whose Court of Appeal judgement favoured and recognised as the authentic scribe of the PDP arrived late at the meeting.
Even though, he was allowed in, but, some sponsored thugs believed to be working for the second contender, Senator Samuel Anyanwu quickly moved in and forcefully removed Ude-Okoye, an action that escalated into a heated confrontation.
Senator Anyanwu, who was National Secretary of the Party before he left to contest the Party’s Governorship primary and later contested the Imo State Governorship election, later made a dramatic return for the same position, a development that led the Southeast zonal PDP to reject the move saying that there was no way he can remain as National Secretary and at the same time contest party primary and main election.

A source at the BoT meeting told Forefront News that that as soon as Ude-Okoye entered the meeting, and greeted the members of the Board with the exception of his opponent, Senator Anyanwu, the atmosphere at the meeting changed and became charged as well.

Few minutes later, some security personnel moved in and attempted to escort him out of the venue, triggering protests from his supporters, who accused the PDP leadership of bias.
The altercation and fisticuffs at the BoT meeting further exposed the deep gulf that now exist within the leadership of the PDP thus, raising serious concerns over the opposition party’s ability and internal cohesion needed to face the 2027 general elections.

The meeting later went into closed door meeting with Ude-Okoye locked out, a development he described as a deliberate attempt to silence legitimate voices within the party.
For now, chieftains and stakeholders of the Party are calling for a wholistic resolution of the crisis over the position of the National Secretary by both the National Working Committee (NWC), National Executive Committee (NEC), whenever it would take place as well as the courts to put a final zeal on who is the National Secretary of the Party.

Until when that is effectively done, the ding-dong game aimed at weaking the party goes on.