By Clifford Ndujihe & Luminous Jannamike
FOR the primary opposition Peoples Democratic Celebration, PDP, the state congresses slated for late September 2025 have been alleged to solidify management of state chapters, reconfigure management, and restore inner coherence forward of the nationwide conference in November.
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Nonetheless, they’ve reopened outdated management wounds and uncovered the deep fractures within the celebration: feuds on the high, inconsistent messaging, clashing loyalties, and doubts about procedural legitimacy.
Somewhat than being organizational stepping stones, these congresses changed into flash-points for unresolved disputes—particularly across the nationwide secretariat, the function of the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee, INEC, and conflicting authority between organs of the PDP.
Damagum vs Anyanwu
Now, the Nationwide Chairman, Umar Damagum, and Nationwide Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, are at daggers drawn, every citing provisions of the celebration’s amended 2017 structure as back-up.
Inside two days, issues degenerated so quick that some observers feared that the November 15-16 Nationwide conference in Ibadan, Oyo State is likely to be affected.
Anyanwu voids dissolution of Akwa Ibom exco
The disaster took a dramatic activate Wednesday when Senator Anyanwu declared that the Akwa Ibom State Working Committee of the PDP remained undissolved, brazenly countering a press launch earlier issued by the Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.
In a letter dated October 1, 2025, and addressed to the Akwa Ibom State PDP Chairman, Aniekan Akpan, the nationwide secretary insisted that the purported dissolution ought to be disregarded, stressing that no formal assembly of the Nationwide Working Committee, NWC, was held to authorise such a call. “For functions of readability, that press launch ought to be discountenanced, as a result of there was no formal sitting of the Nationwide Working Committee wherein such a call was taken,” he wrote.
Anyanwu accused the Nationwide Publicity Secretary of exceeding his mandate by trying to implement a call that had no backing from the NWC.
“It’s not within the official place and duties of the Nationwide Publicity Secretary to take actions referring to the implementation of the selections of the Nationwide Working Committee of our nice Celebration; in consequence, the purported press launch is null and void and of no impact,” Anyanwu said.
Declaring the authority of the Akwa Ibom State management intact, he affirmed that the State Working Committee ‘stands undissolved.’ “You might be hereby directed to proceed in your duties as supplied within the PDP Structure 2017 as Amended,” he concluded within the letter to Akpan.
Damagum undermining my workplace — Anyanwu
Undone, Senator Anyanwu in a letter to Damagum, which was printed as an advertorial on Thursday, alleged that the nationwide chairman was undermining his workplace opposite to Part 36 of the PDP Structure and urged him to desist within the curiosity of the celebration.
Relating to the Akwa Ibom conflict, he wrote: “It has turn out to be crucial to formally deliver to your consideration the violation of the provisions of the PDP Structure, 2017 as amended. And the fixed infraction of the duties of the workplace of the nationwide secretary.
“Part 36 (1) b and e of the PDP Structure 2017 as amended clearly states inter alia: b) that the Nationwide Secretary shall “conduct or direct the conduct of the correspondences of the Celebration and trigger to be issued notices of conferences of the Nationwide Conference, Nationwide Govt Committee, Nationwide Caucus and nationwide Working Committee: and e) shall make sure the implementation of the selections and directives of the Nationwide Conference, Nationwide Govt Committee, Nationwide Caucus, and make sure that all items of the celebration perform their duties promptly and effectively.
“Instructively, the duties of issuing notices of conferences and implementations of the selections or resolutions of the NWC are inside the purview of the workplace of the nationwide secretary.
“Regrettably, you’ve disregarded these provisions of the structure with out recourse to the authorized implications of your actions. Try to be conscious that any motion or choices purportedly reached by an illegally constituted NWC is null and void and of no impact. Observe additional, that the purported press assertion issued by the Nationwide Publicity Secretary as regards the dissolution of Akwa Ibom and Cross River State Working committees and changing them with caretaker committees is a nullity as a result of the discover of the NWC assembly purportedly held on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 was not issued by me.
“The choice to undermine the duties of my workplace as supplied by the celebration structure is provocative and grossly unacceptable by me.”
Damagum counters
Citing Part 35 of the celebration’s structure, the Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba mentioned the nationwide chairman was proper on his choices and the NWC’s motion on Akwa Ibom was authorized
Clarifying the hierarchy on Thursday, Ologunagba cited Part 35 of the PDP Structure (2017 as amended), which outlines the capabilities of the Nationwide Chairman.
In keeping with the availability: “There shall be a Nationwide Chairman who shall be the chief government of the Celebration and his capabilities shall be: “35 (1) (a) summon and preside over the conferences of the Nationwide Conference, the Nationwide Govt Committee, the Nationwide Caucus and the Nationwide Working Committee of the Celebration; “35 (1) (d) assign particular capabilities to any member or officer of the Celebration.”
On the Akwa Ibom disaster, the PDP insisted that its choices stand, warning members in opposition to selling parallel narratives. “The assembly that produced the celebration’s place was correctly convened, with information and movies to show it. Anybody claiming in any other case is deceptive the general public,” Ologunagba added.
Turning to the November conference, he assured members and Nigerians that preparations stay on monitor. “Each chapter is concerned, our leaders throughout the nation are working collectively, and preparations are on track. There isn’t a menace to the method. Nigerians can relaxation assured that on 15–16 November 2025, the conference will happen as scheduled,” he said.
Early indicators of battle
The clearest signal that the congresses can be contested got here when the PDP nationwide management dispatched contradictory letters to the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee. Nationwide Chairman Umar Damagum, by way of a letter dated September 26, notified INEC that the state congresses in Plateau, Cross River and Kebbi had been postponed because of “operational logistic challenges.” He framed the communication as informational, not as a proper discover of congress.
Inside 24 hours, Nationwide Secretary Senator Anyanwu issued his personal letter to INEC reaffirming that the congresses would proceed as scheduled, and explicitly urged INEC to disregard the chairman’s letter: “The sooner letter signed by the Nationwide Chairman ought to be ignored,” he mentioned.
The premise for Anyanwu’s rebuttal was partly procedural: he contended that any official communication to INEC should bear the joint signatures of the Nationwide Chairman and Nationwide Secretary, and {that a} letter from the Chairman alone was poor and invalid. This standoff turned a tangible manifestation of a deeper wrestle over management of the PDP’s equipment.
Deeper fault strains
The presidency of Damagum is itself a contested terrain. For the reason that ouster of Iyorchia Ayu, the celebration has been struggling to take care of unity and the Nationwide Secretary slot has been a recurring level of inner warfare. Some factions accuse Damagum of overreach and of operating the celebration unilaterally; his critics level to repeated missteps in process and communication.
Anyanwu, aligned with a cluster of PDP governors and loyalists, has asserted that the place of Nationwide Secretary is sacrosanct below the celebration structure and can’t be casually altered with out NEC (Nationwide Govt Committee) approval. The congress battle thus turned a proxy for the competition for the soul of the PDP, and an assertion of who controls the narrative and authorized parameters.
Disputes in states
Whereas the “Damagum /Anyanwu” drama drew headlines, the true disruption was at state centres, the place native chapters asserted autonomy, resisted nationwide diktats, or litigated outcomes.
Beneath are three illustrative circumstances.
Cross River conflict of authority
In Cross River State, sections of the nationwide management tried to dissolve the sitting State Working Committee (SWC) earlier than the top of its time period and set up a caretaker committee. The nationwide publicity secretary (unsigned) launched a press assertion suspending the state congress and directing that the zonal caretaker take over pending contemporary elections.
However SWC Chairman Venatius Ikem rejected that transfer. He insisted the congress would proceed on September 27 as mounted, arguing that the nationwide organ (NWC) lacked the constitutional authority to override NEC’s resolution or to preempt state-level preparations. Ikem additional offered documentation to say that his tenure would expire solely on September 29, not earlier than, and threatened authorized motion in opposition to makes an attempt to dissolve the SWC prematurely. Thus, Cross River turned a microcosm of the bigger tug-of-war: nationwide versus state authority, timetable claims, and procedural legitimacy.
Looming postponement in Plateau, Kebbi
Although much less element has emerged publicly, the three states named in Damagum’s postponement letter—Plateau, Kebbi and Cross River—have been tied collectively within the conflicting communications. In Plateau and Cross River, the celebration formally postponed congresses. In Plateau, the postponement adopted the identical narrative: “unexpected circumstances and operational logistic challenges.”
Whether or not native chapters accepted or resisted the postponement is much less documented, however the twin letters to INEC present that these states turned battlegrounds for top-level legitimacy relatively than websites of peaceable inner renewal.
Delayed congresses, litigation, NEC strain
Past the three states, Congresses in Abia and Ebonyi stay pending, blamed on litigation and logistical constraints. In a number of states (Benue, Ekiti, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Sokoto), congresses have been in progress or had been scheduled, however delayed reporting and unresolved litigation compelled the PDP to postpone its NEC assembly, initially slated for late September.
A key supply inside the celebration recommended that the NEC rescheduling was executed to “enable congress studies from eight states” to catch up, however critics rounded on the transfer, accusing nationwide actors of utilizing delays strategically to exert affect over favorable state outcomes.
Thus, the congress disaster was not confined to some states, however unfold throughout a myriad of PDP chapters scuffling with inner bickering, authorized injunctions, and uncoordinated nationwide directives.
INEC’s rejection of PDP notices
This isn’t the primary time PDP has tangled with INEC over signatures and procedural compliance. In June 2025, INEC rejected the PDP’s discover for its a hundredth NEC assembly on technical grounds: the letter was signed solely by Appearing Nationwide Chairman Damagum, with out the co-signature of the Nationwide Secretary. The electoral physique referred to Half 2(12)3 of the “Laws and Tips for Political Events, 2022,” which mandates that notices of conventions, congresses or conferences should be collectively signed by each the Chairman and the Secretary.
PDP’s Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Ologunagba, rejected INEC’s interpretation, insisting that INEC has no function in dictating inner celebration affairs, particularly the place no election of officers is concerned.
This doctrinal battle highlights a recurring rigidity: INEC views itself as a regulator tasked with guaranteeing celebration compliance; PDP leaders see such interference as overreach into inner affairs.
Signatory battle
A recurring grievance from Anyanwu’s faction is that INEC, by rejecting letters with out the Secretary’s co-signature, tacitly privileges one faction over one other. In that gentle, Anyanwu’s September letter to INEC particularly states that communications missing each signatures “shouldn’t be honoured.”
This raises the likelihood that INEC is likely to be compelled to adjudicate which nationwide letter is legitimate—a alternative that, for a “impartial” umpire, is fraught with political optics.
Courts orders, contempt
In some zones, inner disputes spilled into courtrooms. As early as February 2025, the counsel for one PDP member had written to each INEC and the PDP’s Southeast Zonal Secretary, warning them in opposition to contempt of a subsisting Excessive Courtroom order forbidding the PDP from conducting the Southeast zonal congress.
In different cases, litigants sought to restrain or nullify state congresses, particularly the place inner claimants challenged the legitimacy of sitting executives or caretaker committees. The PDP subsequently has been navigating overlapping fault strains: inner constitutional claims, partisan energy struggles, INEC technicality, and court docket injunctions.
Litmus take a look at
The September congress saga underscores how the PDP has drifted from disciplined chain-of-command to fragmented camp politics. As a substitute of unity-building, congress planning has turn out to be a litmus take a look at of loyalty or subordination.
The truth that high leaders felt compelled to challenge conflicting letters to INEC reveals how weak the celebration’s inner consensus has turn out to be.
Erosion of institutional credibility
When public-facing celebration organs can’t coordinate or agree on fundamental administrative steps, temptation brews for cynicism. If the opposition behaves in a way that invitations skepticism, the ruling celebration and its supporters will seize the narrative of “dysfunction, incapacity, illegitimacy.”
PDP’s critics can—and little question will—painting the celebration as inconsistent, legally weak, and helpless within the face of inner discord.
Threat for state chapters
State chapters that have been gearing up for congress discovered themselves caught between native loyalties and nationwide dictates that lacked readability. Some might select to disregard nationwide postponements; others might yield and permit caretakers to take over. The result’s uncertainty for grassroots members over whose flag to wave.
The Cross River case exemplifies how a state chapter can assert autonomy in opposition to nationwide edicts. However not all chapters have the structural confidence or inner cohesion to take action.
INEC’s discretionary function
INEC now faces the dilemma of which letters to recognise, and whether or not to behave on notifications which may be contradictory or procedurally flawed. Its responses—settle for, reject, or delay—may tip the steadiness contained in the PDP.
Implication for nationwide conference
The congress deadlock additionally imperils the PDP’s nationwide conference timetable. The NEC assembly initially scheduled for September was postponed, largely as a result of some state congresses had not delivered studies.
Delay or chaos at nationwide conference might undermine PDP’s readiness for main elections, candidate zoning negotiations, and broader coalition-building forward of 2027.
What future holds
The Damagum–Anyanwu rift should be bridged. Which aspect instructions INEC recognition, authorized legitimacy, and inner assist will decide whether or not the PDP can current a unified entrance.
Judicial arbitration as final resort
Inside celebration organs might give approach to court docket judgments. As PDP actors litigate at state or nationwide ranges, the celebration dangers ceding inner self-discipline to legal professionals and judges.
INEC as energy dealer by default
If PDP fails to heal its inner contradictions, INEC’s posture—refusing or accepting letters based mostly on process—might turn out to be a political lever in its personal proper.
Grassroots repercussions
State-level tensions may demoralize grassroots operatives, spark defections, or empower native energy blocs inclined to interrupt away or associate with rival events.
Conference legitimacy
The popularity of delegates, state congress outcomes, and vice versa, rests on the credibility of all the congress chain. If that falters, the 2025–26 PDP conference could also be broadly contested as invalid or factional.
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