The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened on Tuesday as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed Senator Samuel Anyanwu—an ally of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike—as the party’s duly recognized National Secretary.
This revelation was delivered to the party’s 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja by a fact-finding panel chaired by Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas. The committee, which includes Governors Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) and Peter Mbah (Enugu), along with PDP National Legal Adviser Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), was mandated on Monday to investigate INEC’s official position on the secretaryship crisis.
According to sources present at the closed-door meeting, the Kefas-led panel informed NEC that INEC’s position is grounded in a Supreme Court judgment, which upheld Anyanwu’s status as National Secretary.
This development complicates efforts by the PDP governors and other stakeholders who had been pushing for Anyanwu’s removal, citing the need to restore internal party cohesion. However, party officials have now resolved to revisit the issue during another NEC meeting slated for June 30, which would meet the 21-day statutory notice requirement for such leadership changes.
The recognition of Anyanwu, a staunch loyalist of Wike, has rekindled tensions between the former Rivers State governor and the party’s leadership, threatening to derail ongoing reconciliation efforts.
Wike, in a statement released on Sunday, declared his withdrawal from peace talks aimed at resolving PDP’s lingering disputes. He accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah of acting in bad faith and sabotaging agreements reached to stabilize the party.
In response to the escalating tensions, a reconciliation committee chaired by former Senate President Bukola Saraki held an emergency meeting with PDP stakeholders late Sunday, but the outcome of the session remains unclear.
The PDP’s internal turmoil has persisted since before the 2023 general elections, with factional battles intensifying in key regions. Contentious issues include the Rivers State power struggle, disputes over zonal congresses in the South East and South South, the battle for the national secretary position, and disagreements surrounding the North Central Zonal Congress.
Several PDP governors—including Plateau’s Caleb Mutfwang and Adamawa’s Ahmadu Fintiri—have reportedly grown frustrated with recent decisions made by the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Governors’ Forum, which are seen as increasingly aligned with Governors Makinde, Mbah, and Bauchi’s Bala Mohammed.
These decisions are viewed by Wike's camp as strategic moves to diminish his influence within the party, despite earlier reconciliation efforts facilitated by the Board of Trustees, the NWC, and the NEC.
With NEC now bound by INEC’s legal recognition of Anyanwu and internal disagreements worsening, PDP's prospects for unity ahead of the 2027 general elections remain uncertain.
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