A newly obtained document has identified Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the recognized National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), renewing internal tensions within the party’s leadership.
The letter, dated May 7, 2025, and directed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was signed by Ambassador Umar Damagum, the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, alongside Senator Anyanwu, who signed in the capacity of National Secretary.
In the correspondence, the party notified INEC that Jude C. Ezenwafor emerged as the PDP’s standard-bearer for the November 8, 2025, Anambra State governorship election, following a primary monitored by the electoral body.
The letter read in part: “We hereby notify the Commission that Jude C. Ezenwafor is the PDP candidate for the Anambra governorship poll scheduled for November 8, 2025, and his running mate is Hon. Okeke Francis Chukwudi.”
The party also submitted required forms and credentials for both nominees. INEC acknowledged receipt of the submission on May 12.
However, the document has stirred renewed debate, as it contradicts previous decisions by the PDP’s National Working Committee and Governors’ Forum, which had earlier deemed Anyanwu unfit to serve in his secretarial role, appointing Deputy National Secretary Setonji Koshoedo as interim replacement.
This latest development follows a Supreme Court verdict, which overturned a prior Court of Appeal ruling upholding Anyanwu’s ouster. The apex court held that leadership disputes within the PDP fall under the party’s internal jurisdiction and are not for judicial determination.
Some of Anyanwu’s supporters interpreted the court’s pronouncement as his reinstatement, though party leadership maintains it merely reaffirmed their autonomy to choose officials.
In 2023, following Anyanwu’s emergence as PDP’s governorship candidate in Imo State, the South East zonal wing of the party nominated Sunday Ude-Okoye as his replacement—a nomination ratified by the NWC, Board of Trustees, and the PDP Governors’ Forum.
Despite this, a leadership standoff persisted between Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye, both laying claim to the same office.
PDP spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, had earlier explained that the party’s NWC had directed the South East zone to nominate a successor after Anyanwu’s candidacy in Imo. M
Ude-Okoye was chosen and endorsed accordingly.
Meanwhile, in a communique issued after its April 2025 meeting in Ibadan, the PDP Governors’ Forum rejected both Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye for the position and instead recommended that the Deputy National Secretary temporarily take over.
Following the recommendation, Setonji Koshoedo was named Acting National Secretary, pending a formal replacement by the National Executive Committee.
The situation continues to evolve as the PDP navigates its internal leadership dynamics ahead of critical elections.
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