The embattled National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, has revealed that certain party leaders were hell-bent on forcing him out of office because of his insistence on due process, respect for the rule of law and his long-standing relationship with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike.
Anyanwu told Sunday Vanguard that some of the party’s leaders from his zone (South East) consider him a stumbling block to their political ambitions, part of which include taking over the party structure.
He said, “I was validly nominated and elected as National Secretary of this great party at a national convention and our constitution clearly spells out how a person occupying positions in the National Working Committee can be replaced if the need arises.
“I took time off to contest for the governorship of my state and the Deputy National Secretary acted while I was away. Our constitution gives me the power to delegate functions to my deputy.
“It was strange that while I was campaigning, some people went as far as forging documents by illegally altering our party guidelines and inserted a clause which is not in the original document to say I must resign. The police are investigating, I won’t say much on that.”
“Everybody knows my relationship with (Chief Nyesom) Wike. We were local government chairmen and members of the PDP, I cannot deny him.”
Anyanwu accused some of the party’s governors of working in cohorts with a section of the Board of Trustees (BoT) in pursuit of an agenda to weaken the party for selfish gains.
He noted that the advice of both bodies that Sunday Udeh-Okoye be immediately sworn in as the substantive National Secretary, following a Court of Appeal judgement was simply “a proxy war.”
The PDP Governors Forum had during their monthly meeting in Asaba, Delta State, endorsed Udeh-Okoye as National Secretary.
They based their decision on an Enugu Court of Appeal judgment recognizing Udeh-Okoye as the bonafide occupant of the position.
The BoT soon followed with their support for the position taken by the governors.
Members of the BoT took their decision after adopting the report of a committee they had set up to examine the claims being made by both Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye.
The committee which was chaired by. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), recommended that Udeh-Okoye be sworn in immediately based on the court judgment.
