The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday officially recognised Sunday Ude-Okoye as its substantive National Secretary.
The development comes after a National Working Committee (NWC) meeting, presided over by Acting National Chairman Umar Damagun.
The decision was made known in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba.
“The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at its meeting today, Wednesday, February 12, 2025 extensively considered the Memo dated 11th February, 2025 presented by the Acting National Chairman on the issue of the National Secretary of the PDP.
“The NWC in considering the Memo thoroughly examined the attached documents namely; the Declaratory Judgement of the High Court of Enugu, the Judgment 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 recognizes, 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, recognizing that there is no subsisting or superseding Judgment 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 judgment 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,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, details of the meeting reveal that 13 NWC members voted in favour of Ude-Okoye, while 5 members chose to remain neutral and did not cast a vote. It is understood that the outgoing secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, received zero votes, with no NWC member, including Damagun, supporting him.
Party executives revealed that Anyanwu has been removed from the official WhatsApp forum. Ude-Okoye, on the other hand, has been added to the forum as the authentic secretary.
“Anyanwu, a member of the pro-Nyesom Wike All Progressives Congress camp, has been running around the Federal High Court seeking a belated secret injunction against PDP NWC and PDP NEC with a suit filed on his behalf by 2023 Labour Party former House of Representatives candidate Austin Nwachukwu, who is parading as Imo PDP Chairman while still a member of Labour Party,” Sahara Reporters quoted a source as saying.
Last Wednesday, February 5, the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) officially recognized Ude-Okoye as the party’s legitimate National Secretary and urged the party’s NWC to immediately swear him into office. The decision was reached during an emergency meeting held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
The BoT reviewed reports presented by former Minister of Special Duties, Tamini Turaki, who was tasked with reviewing court documents submitted by both Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye.
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