S’East PDP Gives Party Condition on Choice of National Secretary

•Says it’s Udeh-Okoye or nothing 

•We’re not your slaves, Wabara declares  

•Respect our decision, Mbah maintains

The South East zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the National Working Committee (NWC) and other organs of the party leadership to ratify Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary being the choice of the zone, in line with the PDP Constitution, and valid court order.

Leaders of the party decried the mistreatment of the zone by the PDP, insisting that they would no longer tolerate the delay in the ratification of Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary, saying it was either him or nothing because the zone was not a slave to the PDP.

At the same time, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the party, Adolphus Wabara, expressed pains over the triviality with which the PDP had treated the South East zone of party.

The South East PDP took the stand, yesterday, in a communique issued at the end of a meeting of the Zonal Executive Committee and party leaders held in Enugu under the leadership of Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu and PDP National Vice Chairman (South East), Chief Ali Odefa.

The meeting was also attended by the Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, among a host of others.

In his opening remark, Mbah said, “We have carried the banner of PDP in the South East with great pride. So, when we have come together, as a people on a matter that affects us as PDP members in the South East and a decision is taken in line with our party’s Constitution and the electoral guidelines, I think it would be a mistake if that position is disrespected.

“I believe that we are here to decide whether we, the South East, will continue to be slaves in this party. I feel pained that the Igbo are being mistreated. We are being treated like slaves. Therefore, we will leave here with a far-reaching decision and that decision must be carried. That is why we are here,” he said in his introductory remark.

However, reading the communique, Odefa said: “The meeting reiterated and reconfirmed its decisions in its earlier meeting held on 20th October, 2023, which asked Senator Samuel Anyanwu to stop parading himself as the National Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), as he has relinquished the office by virtue of the Constitution of the PDP, which has been upheld by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“The meeting affirmed the nomination of S.K.E. Udeh-Okoye as his replacement for the National Secretary of the Party, to serve out the remainder of his term, in accordance with the Party’s Constitution.

“The Constitution of PDP is very clear on the matter of resignation of an elected national party official, who vied or is vying for an election, as presented below.

“Section 47 (5) states that any elected PDP national officer who wishes to contest an elective office must resign. It gives the power to determine the length of Notice of the resignation to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party, to be contained in the Guidelines.

“Furthermore, a court of competent jurisdiction, the Enugu State High Court, on 28th December 2023, in a considered opinion, held that Senator Anyanwu, by standing for the Governorship primaries of the PDP, ‘had elected on his own volition to vacate the office of National Secretary.’

“The Court further ordered that S.K.E. Udeh- Okoye be recognised as the National Secretary of the Party.”

The party, therefore, urged the PDP NWC and other organs to recognise Hon. Udeh-Okoye as the authentic National Secretary of the party.