Following the dramatic scenes at its recent meeting, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has decided to bar Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Hon. Sunday Ude-Okoye from attending future BoT gatherings until the ongoing dispute over the party’s national secretary position is settled.

The decision was reached after a chaotic incident at the last BoT meeting, where a physical altercation erupted. The confrontation began when an aide to Senator Anyanwu tried to prevent Ude-Okoye from entering the meeting, despite his official invitation. Tensions have been high within the party due to the disagreement between the two over who should hold the crucial position of national secretary.

The national secretary of the PDP is a statutory member of the BoT, and the ongoing tussle between Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye has only deepened divisions within the party. The confrontation occurred at last week’s meeting at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja when Ude-Okoye was directed to sit at the high table, which sparked the heated exchange.

To address the crisis, the BoT has formed a committee led by Barr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), former Minister of Special Duties, to mediate between the two parties and provide a resolution for further action.

A source within the BoT, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the decision to suspend the two from attending future meetings was made in an effort to maintain order and prevent further disruptions. The source expressed the Board’s disappointment in how the situation unfolded but remains confident that the newly formed committee will resolve the matter amicably.

“The BoT was very disappointed with the way things played out. To avoid another incident, the Board has decided that both Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye will not be allowed to attend future meetings until the issue is fully resolved,” the source explained. “Though both seem unwilling to back down, we are hopeful the committee will come to a conclusion, and everyone will respect the BoT’s final decision.”

The dispute over the national secretary position stems from when Senator Anyanwu stepped down to run for the Imo State governorship election, which he ultimately lost.

After his departure, the South East zone nominated Ude-Okoye as his replacement, but Anyanwu contested this choice in court. The matter escalated, and while Anyanwu lost the case at the Appeal Court, the issue is now before the Supreme Court.

Further clarifications from the BoT source emphasized that Ude-Okoye was not at fault for attending the meeting without permission.

He had been officially invited and had received the approval of party leaders from his zone after being reaffirmed as the national secretary in Enugu State just a week before the Abuja meeting.

Another party leader also supported the BoT’s move, asserting that barring the two from further meetings was necessary to maintain order and avoid more disruptions within the party.

The November 11, 2023 governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Bayelsa State, Udengs Eradiri, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, saying it is behind all the projects in his Agudiama/Ekpetiama community in Yenagoa Local Government Area.

Eradiri, who registered for the APC at Ward 10 Constituency 2 in Yenagoa Local Government Area, said President Tinubu, through Dr. Samuel Ogbuku-led Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), gave his community potable water, shore protection, solar lights, and one kilometre road.

He said besides his community, almost all the communities in the Niger Delta region have benefitted from the light-up project and other interventionist programmes of the NDDC.

According to him, the Tinubu administration, through the NDDC, had also promised to embark on other projects, including the remodeling of a secondary school and providing quality accommodation for members of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) in his community.

Eradiri, who was received by a crowd of residents and APC members in his ward, noted that through the Tantita Security Services Limited and the NDDC, the Niger Delta region had experienced peace and steady progress in infrastructural development.

He gave some instances, including the recent President’s assent to the Maritime University Bill into law and the Bill establishing the University of Technology and Environment in Ogoni land.

Eradiri said these would help to deepen the already existing peace in the region.

The former Bayelsa State Commissioner for Youths and later Environment stressed that President Tinubu was steadily addressing the injustices and marginalisation the region suffered over the past years.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Tuesday, disclosed that the party would prefer having a consensus candidate than having an unpopular candidate for the Anambra governorship ticket ahead of the November 25 election.

Ganduje also pledged to present an award to Anambra APC if they could be united and produce a consensus candidate to avoid the stress and the financial jamboree that comes with holding the conventional primary election to elect a candidate.

The former Kano State governor disclosed this when he hosted an APC support group known as Booth 2 Booth with Bola Tinubu at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

While assuring them that his leadership will ensure a fair and credible primary election in Anambra, Ganduje urged stakeholdersjostling for the ticket not to throw the state into chaos.

He said, “As a party, if we are to have good primary in the state, all our stakeholders are supposed to be born again. They (aspirants) are educated and rich. But we have told them that this time, it will not be business as usual. Let us support the system.

“We know they are very rich. But they should not use the money to scatter the state. They should use the money to develop the state and the APC. In fact, I would be highly interested if they could produce a candidate through consensus, and I would give them an award.

“You mention the option of direct or indirect primary. As an institution, I assure you, we will sit with the National Working Committee in conjunction with the leadership of the party in the state and agree on whichever method is best for the primary.”

Earlier, the National Coordinator of the group, Iyke Madu, told members of the National Working Committee that they are ready to work together only if the primary election winner emerges through a credible process.

He said, “We are here to make a request to see to it that a credible, free, free and transparent primary is conducted in Anambra State. This is to avoid the pitfalls of 2021, where primary election results were announced in hotel rooms, and a candidate who got 300,000 votes in the primaries could not even get up to 50,000 votes at the main contest against other parties.

“There is also the issue of insecurity in Anambra. As we speak, even the state government could not conduct their own local government elections due to insecurity. So we are here only requesting for the party to adopt an indirect primary method. Our constitution provides for that.”