The National Working Committee (NWC) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, affirmed Sunday Udeh-Okoye as its National Secretary, saying the party is bound by the appeal court judgement on the matter.
National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said the NWC, at its meeting, considered a memo dated February 11, presented by the party’s acting National Chairman, Iliya Damagum, on the issue of the national secretary.
Ologunagba stated, “The NWC, in considering the memo, thoroughly examined the attached documents, namely the declaratory judgement of the High Court of Enugu, the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, which pronounced and declared Rt. Hon. S.K.E Udeh Okoye as the national secretary of the PDP; the legal opinion and advice by Dr. Kabiru T. Turaki, SAN, as well as that of the national legal adviser of the PDP.
“After due consideration of the memo and the attachments, the NWC overwhelmingly recognises, acknowledges and confirms Rt. Hon. S.K.E Udeh-Okoye as the substantive national secretary of the PDP in full compliance with and obedience to the judgement of the Court of Appeal, recognising that there is no subsisting or superseding judgement or order from any court of superior authority or hierarchy.
“The NWC has commenced the transmission of its resolution/decision affirming Rt. Hon. S.K.E Udeh-Okoye as the PDP national secretary to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other relevant bodies for recognition in line with the judgement of the Court of Appeal.
“The NWC commends all organs, leaders, critical stakeholders and members of the PDP for their steadfastness, respect for the rule of law and loyalty to the party at this critical time.
“The NWC reassures that it will continue to be guided strictly by the provisions of the constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017), Operational Guidelines, the rule of law and the vision of our founding fathers for the stability and growth of the party, entrenchment of democracy and wellbeing of Nigerians.”
However, when THISDAY contacted Damagum, he said NWC met virtually on its platform, where the reports of the PDP governors’ forum and the Tanimu Turakireport to the Board of Trustees (BoT) were discussed.
He said a majority of NWC members supported that in line with the BoT and PDP governors’ forum report, Ude-Okoye should be recognised as national secretary.
The acting national chairman added that other members of the NWC abstained.
“It was not that the NWC met and took a decision. Some of us are still mindful of the Court of Appeal directives that says that the status quo ante bellum should be maintained,” he said.
He explained that it was a mere WhatsApp discussion and not a decision of the NWC.
The embattled national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, also said, “The NWC never met. That is Ologunagba and a few others’ position. The matter was only discussed on the WhatsApp platform. Therefore, the NWC has not met regarding it, as the matter is still in court.”
Anyanwu was also said to have told the committee that he could not shelve a prior medical appointment he had fixed earlier.
It was also a melodramatic at the sitting of the disciplinary committee headed by Chief Tom Ikimi, as the chairman of PDP in Benue State, Ezekiel Adaji, disclaimed the petitioners against former Governor Samuel Ortom and 10 others, claiming they are unknown to the party in the state.
Ortom, at the same time, rejected the committee’s invitation as his spokesman, National Ikyur, told newsmen that there was no basis to expect him at the Legacy House venue of the PDP disciplinary committee’s sitting on Wednesday.
Ikyur said, “Up till 10am today (Wednesday), the former governor has not received any letter from the committee, even though it has saturated the mass media with stories about a purported invitation.
“It seems even more logical for the former governor to consider a letter with allegations of cyberstalking against the committee.”
A source at the PDP national headquarters informed newsmen that the Ikimicommittee prioritised Anyanwu, Ortom and 10 of Ortom’s loyalists from Benue State for appearance before it.
The source said because the committee did not know Ortom’s address in Abuja, it decided to send the letters meant for Ortom and 10 Benue State PDP members to the state chairman last Friday.
However, a February 11 letter sent to the PDP disciplinary committee by Adaji and received during the committee’s sitting raised allegations that authors of the petition alleging anti-party activities against Ortom and 10 others were likely to be ghost members, who authored their petition in the name of a non-existent group.
Among other suggestions, Adaji demanded that the petitioners should submit evidence to back their allegations, adding, “Petitioners should also provide evidence of their membership of the party, if any.”
Unfortunately, the PDP disciplinary committee might be on an illegal course that violates both the party’s constitution and the Cybercrimes Act, counsel to Ortomsaid.
A letter from Ortom’s lawyer, Mr. C.T. Mue, addressed to Ikimi’s committee and dated February 11, demanded a written apology and withdrawal of statements made against the former governor within 48 hours. It added that failure to do so would land both parties in court.
The letter stated, “This public notice has caused reputational harm and violates fundamental principles as enshrined in Section 57 of the PDP Constitution 2017 (as amended) and Section 24 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015.”
But Ikimi insisted that the letter was delivered to all concerned through DHL with verifiable evidence, adding that the committee has adjourned till March 4.
Ikimi said no member of the party was above discipline, and it did not matter when the anti-party activities were committed, provided there was a petition against the person.
He promised to be fair to all.
Abia PDP: Wabara Remains Suspended
Abia State Chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenged the position of the party’s NWC, insisting that the suspension of the Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, stood.
After Wabara’s purported suspension was announced in Umuahia, Tuesday, Ologunagba had promptly issued a statement on behalf of the NWC, declaring the suspension null and void.
But the chairman of Abia PDP, Elder Abraham Amah, responded, in a statement, saying Ologunagba lacks the authority to overturn the decision of the State Executive Committee of a state chapter of PDP.
Amah stated, “We categorically state that the decision of the Abia State Executive Committee (SEC) to suspend Senator Wabara met every constitutional requirement of the party and cannot be invalidated by a mere statement from the national publicity secretary, which is not a by-product of any official resolution of the National Working Committee (NWC).”
Amah explained that Abia PDP acted within the constitutional guidelines as spelt out in the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017), hence the suspension of Wabararemained valid as it was done “within the legal framework”.
Meanwhile, two former national chairmen of the party, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo and Uche Secondus, congratulated Udeh-Okoye on his new position as the national secretary of the party. They also commended members of the NWC for standing firm in defence of the rule of law and party discipline.
In a joint statement in Abuja, they said by recognising Udeh-Okoye, the party leadership had demonstrated its total commitment to the rule of law and rightly portrayed the party as a truly democratic institution.
Nwodo and Secondus warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the federal government to allow the opposition parties to breathe, as a strong opposition was the right measure of vibrant democracy all over the World.
They advised the new national secretary and the members of NWC to work towards strengthening the party to position it as the party to beat in the subsequent elections.
