The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), has urged the National Working Committee (NWC) to swear in Hon. Sunday Ude-Okoye as the National Secretary of the party.
But Senator Samuel Anyanwu is kicking against his rejection by the Board of Trustees (BoT), saying that he had obtained a stay of execution.
Earlier, the PDP governors had in a meeting in Asaba, Delta State urged the NWC to ensure that Ude-Okoye was sworn in immediately which also formed the high point of the emergency PDP BoT meeting held on Wednesday outside the national secretariat of the party.
The BoT meeting was moved out of the national secretariat of the party to Transcorp Hilton Hotel , Abuja to avert a repeat of the ugly incident where thugs stormed their meeting and left it in an atmosphere of chaos.
However, reading the communique, chairman of the BoT, Senator Adolphus Wabara, said, ”The BoT charges the National Working Committee (NWC) to recognise and immediately swear in Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary of the PDP in obedience to the Judgment of the Court of Appeal.”
Wabara, a former President of the Nigerian Senate, said the Board of Trustees acted as a prominent organ of the PDP as provided in Section 13 (1)(r) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).
”The BoT also asserts its inherent authority under Section 32 (5)(a) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017) which empowers it to ‘ensure highest standards of morality in all the activities of the Party by acting as the conscience of the Party, with powers to call to order any officer of the Party, whose conduct falls below the norms.
”The BoT in exercise of its constitutional powers received, exhaustively considered and hereby adopt the report of its committee led by Barr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki SAN on the issue of the National Secretary of the PDP especially with regard to the declarative judgment of the High Court of Enugu as upheld by the Court of Appeal.
”Consequently, the BoT by adopting the report recognises Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the substantive National Secretary of the PDP in full obedience to the declaratory Judgment of the High Court of Enugu as also upheld by the Court of Appeal there being no contrary or overriding judgment from any Court of superior jurisdiction.
”The BoT urges all party organs, critical stakeholders, leaders and members across the country as well as all democracy development partners and institutions to be guided by the judgment of the Court of Appeal with regard to the position of the National Secretary of the PDP.
”The BoT commends the PDP Governors’ Forum, the National Working Committee, South East Executive Committee and all other organs of the Party for their steadfastness in upholding the provisions of the Constitution and operational Guidelines of the PDP,” he statd.
But Anyanwu’s legal team stated that the dispute over the position of National Secretary of the PDP was harming both the party members and the political landscape.
In the document titled: “Motion on Notice brought pursuant to Order 4 Rule 1, Order 6 Rule 5(1) of the Supreme Court Rules, W024, and the inherent jurisdiction of this Honourable Court,” Anyanwu stated that the lower court reviewed the appeal and, in its ruling, rejected the appeal, with Honourable Justice Joseph Eyo Ekanem, JCA, expressing a dissenting opinion.
He thus sought “An order of this Honourable Court granting accelerated hearing of this Appeal i.e. Appeal Number SC/CV/18/2025: Senator Samuel N. Anyanwu V. Aniagu Emmanuel and 3 others.
“An order of this Honourable Court granting departure from the Rules of this Honourable Court by abridging the time within which the respective Respondents may file their Respondents’ Briefs of Argument and the Appellant/Applicant may file his Appellant Reply Briefs.”
He informed the Supreme Court that he had filed his appellant’s brief of argument and served it on the respondents.
