The National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Samuel Anyanwu, has vowed not to resign from his position regardless of pressure from some party leaders.
This was as he accused Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, and his Enugu State counterpart, Peter Mbah, of leading a coordinated plot to remove him before the expiration of his tenure.
Anyanwu, while speaking to reporters in Abuja on Wednesday, described the turmoil as politically motivated and without constitutional justification.
“There is no vacancy in the office of the National Secretary of the PDP. I remain the substantive National Secretary whose tenure runs until December 2025,” he said.
He maintained that he only took a leave of absence from office to contest the 2023 governorship election in Imo State and had formally notified the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of his decision.
“I wrote to the party and to INEC before proceeding on leave. That letter was acknowledged. My deputy only acted on my behalf. At no time did I resign my position,” the former senator explained.
According to him, the position of National Secretary is zoned to the South, and specifically micro-zoned to the South-East, with Imo State as the designated source of nomination. He questioned why a replacement is being pushed from Enugu State.
“If the zoning principle is to be respected, any replacement must come from Imo State, not Enugu. Governor Mbah is pushing for a replacement that violates the PDP’s own zoning formula,” Anyanwu stated.
The erstwhile lawmaker accused former South-East National Vice Chairman Ali Odefa of being behind the campaign against him and using false information to mislead Governor Mbah and others.
He stated that Odefa had been expelled and no longer had any legal standing within the party.
The party leader, while citing a High Court judgment from January 26, 2025, stressed the legal weight of the decision, which he said rendered any action taken by Odefa or his allies illegal and invalid.
He further accused Governors Makinde and Mbah of conspiring to insert Sunday Ude-Okoye into the position of secretary through improper channels, including manipulating party staff and using unauthorised meeting venues.
He, however, refuted rumours of his alleged allegiance to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, insisting that their friendship has never interfered with his loyalty to PDP.
