Anyanwu vs Okoye: PDP Governors Recommend Solution For Party’s National Secretary Position

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have recommended that the party’s Deputy National Secretary should temporarily fill the role of National Secretary until a permanent appointment and approval of a new secretary from the South East Zone can be made.

The Governors made the recommendation as part of the resolutions taken at their meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday.

Naija News reports the recommendation was made as a way out of the leadership crisis saga, which has pitched Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Honourable Sunday Udeh-Okoye against each other over the occupation of the PDP National Secretary seat.

In a communiqué read by the Governor of Bauchi State and the PDP Governors’ Forum Chairman, Bala Mohammed, the forum reiterated their positions regarding the party’s national secretary, stating, “The Forum reiterates its position taken in Asaba regarding the National Secretary of the party.”

They recommended that the deputy secretary temporarily act as national secretary “pending the nomination and ratification of a substantive secretary from the Southeast zone at its next meeting.”

In other news, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has begun drafting the response of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to a suit filed by 11 governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

The suit also contests the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who is also the Vice Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

The PDP governors, in response, have engaged a team of seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) and six other attorneys to represent them in the Supreme Court.

The legal team includes Bolaji Ayorinde, Eyitayo Jegede, Kamaldeen Ajibade, J.A. Mumuni, Musibau Adetunbi, Samuel Atung, and Yunus Abdulsalam, among others. They are challenging the President’s powers to declare emergency rule in a state and suspend a democratically elected institution.

The dispute was triggered by President Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025, which led to the suspension of Governor Fubara, his deputy Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months. Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas (retd.) was appointed as the sole administrator to oversee the affairs of the state during the suspension.