A fight has broken out at the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where a meeting of the party’s board of trustees (BoT) is taking place.
The altercation began when Sunday Ude-Okoye, a party chieftain, was denied access to the meeting.
BACKGROUND
The PDP has been embroiled in a fresh leadership crisis as both Samuel Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye laying claim to the position of the national secretary.
In December 2024, the court of appeal ruled that Ude-Okoye should replace Anyanwu as the PDP national secretary.
The south-east zonal executive committee of the party nominated Udeh-Okoye to replace Anyanwu after he became the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Imo state in 2023.
Anyanwu had obtained several court injunctions preventing his removal from office.
However, in a verdict delivered on December 20, 2024, Ridwan Abdullahi, the appeal court judge, dismissed the judgment of the high court, which prevented Anyanwu’s removal, for “lacking in merit”.
Following the judgment, Ude-Okoye has been parading himself as the national secretary of the party.
But Anyanwu said he appealed the judgment and also filed for a stay of execution at the supreme court same day the appeal court delivered the verdict in favour of Ude-Okoye.
‘THE FIGHT’
On Wednesday, Anyanwu was present at the commencement of the meeting while Ude-Okoye arrived some minutes later, but was prevented from attending the meeting.
Ude-Okoye attempted to force his way in but was firmly blocked by Emmanuel Okoronkwo, a party protocol officer and Anyanwu’s aide.
His supporters then scaled the fence into the secretariat premises, overpowering Okoronkwo and others who had blocked Ude-Okoye from entering the meeting hall.
Security personnel initially struggled to maintain order at the party’s secretariat.
Adolphus Wabara, chairman of the BoT, and Umar Damagum, PDP chairman, are among the party members attending the meeting.
Ude-Okoye is currently outside the BoT meeting hall with his supporters.
Security has been beefed up at the PDP headquarters, with police and military vans patrolling the area to maintain order.
