The Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum has affirmed the former national youth leader, Mr Sunday Ude-Okoye as the party’s national secretary in accordance with the Appeal Court’s judgment in Enugu.
The Forum took the decision at its first 2025 monthly meeting held yesterday in Asaba, Delta State.
Recall that there has been an intense contest about who is the authentic national secretary of the PDP between Mr Samuel Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye.
The dispute began when Anyanwu left his position as secretary to contest the Imo State governorship election, which he lost.
In his absence, the party endorsed Ude-Okoye as his replacement.
However, upon returning, Anyanwu opposed the decision and took legal action.
In December 2024, the Enugu Division of the Appeal Court upheld a High Court’s ruling that Ude-Okoye be recognised as the national secretary of the PDP against Anyanwu.
However, on January 27, 2025, the Court of Appeal in Abuja issued a restraining order, instructing Anyanwu to remain in the position until the Supreme Court makes its final decision.
In a communiqué issued at the end the meeting, the PDP governors said they passed a resolution backing the judgment which pronounced Ude-Okoye as the authentic national secretary of the party and advised the party’s national working committee (NWC) to follow suit.
The governor of Bauchi State and chairman the Forum, Mr Bala Mohammed, who read out the communiqué at the meeting asked the NWC to reschedule the party’s national executive council meeting for March 13, 2025 from its initial February date.
The communiqué said partly: “The Forum noted with delight the ongoing efforts at resolving the crisis in the national working committee on the position of the national secretary, and has reaffirmed its support for the Court of Appeal judgment; consequently, the forum advised the NWC to set up the machinery for the effective implementation of the court judgment.
“The forum, having examined all the notices required by law to be given to validly convoke NEC, advised the NWC to reschedule NEC to the 13th of March 2025.”
On the state of the nation, the Forum maintained that the federal government’s macroeconomic policies had caused significant hardship and suffering in the country.
“The Forum calls on the federal government to either revisit or rejig its macroeconomic policies to ameliorate and stop the hardship and pains that they have inflicted on Nigerians as no meaningful or impactful achievements in the states will be achieved until the harsh policies are addressed,” Mohammed said.
He urged Nigerians not to despair over the hardship in Nigeria, assuring that the problem would be fixed as soon the PDP returns to power.
Mohammed also decried the resurgence of non-state actors in Nigeria and asked President Bola Tinubu to strengthen the country’s security architecture.
Beside Mohammed, the other attendees at the meeting were Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State and Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State.
Others were Governor Diri Duoye of Bayelsa State, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, Governor Muftwang of Plateau State, Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State, Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, and the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Bayo Lawal.
