•Damagun, Anyanwu flex muscle groups
By Luminous Jannamike
On the corridors of Wadata Plaza, the nationwide headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Celebration (PDP), notion is shifting quick. What as soon as appeared a secure command construction is now uncovered as fragile, with authority cut up between defining figures.
Up to now week, congresses in Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Kebbi, and Cross River have develop into chessboard squares on which main factions advance their items.
Nationwide Chairman, Umar Damagum; Nationwide Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; and Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, emerge not merely as officers however as captains maneuvering for affect.
The end result could decide who controls PDP’s path forward of 2027, not by election, however by inner legitimacy.
Two Facilities, One Siege
The PDP has lengthy maintained that its structure guides each main choice, however interpretation is contentious.
Damagum, as Nationwide Chairman, presides over the formal NWC conferences.
Anyanwu, reinstated as Nationwide Secretary, insists that his co-validation is important for any choice to be binding.
Ologunagba, Nationwide Publicity Secretary, typically communicates Damagum’s facet, emphasizing govt motion and adherence to declared NWC resolutions.
This twin middle of energy turns into seen when state congresses are concerned.
These congresses are usually not trivial technicalities; they’re the equipment by which social gathering organs are refreshed, loyalties are signaled, and buildings are ready for future electoral claims.
Strikes in 4 States
The primary decisive transfer got here from the highest: a public assertion declared that the Akwa Ibom State Working Committee (SWC) was dissolved and changed by a caretaker committee. Igwat Umoren was named the chief. The justification included alleged compromise of social gathering rules and twin loyalty considerations.
Hours later, Anyanwu issued a counter-letter addressed to Aniekan Akpan, the state chairman, stating: “For functions of readability, that press launch must be discountenanced, as a result of there was no formal sitting of the Nationwide Working Committee (NWC) wherein such choice was taken.”
He declared the sooner announcement “null and void and of no impact.” The state govt was to proceed in place, Anyanwu asserted.
Plateau & Kebbi
In Plateau and Kebbi, battle over scheduling heightened rigidity. Penultimate Thursday, Damagum reportedly wrote to INEC, suspending congresses in Plateau, Kebbi, and Cross River on account of operational logistic challenges.
The following day, Anyanwu was mentioned to have additionally written a counter-letter insisting that these scheduled congresses nonetheless stand and should proceed.
The 2 purported letters, almost similar in viewers however opposing in content material, sowed confusion in state chapters. Delegates, native executives, and INEC have been confronted with contradictory directions.
Cross River
In Cross River, the divergence turned public. The State Working Committee held a congress in Calabar on the scheduled date, declaring its re-election legitimate.
But in Abuja, the nationwide management insisted the congress was unauthorised: Ologunagba mentioned it was “hallucination” and “a carnival,” sustaining the NWC had earlier postponed the train.
“There was no congress in Cross River by the PDP because the management of the social gathering had earlier introduced the postponement of congress in Cross River, Plateau and Kebbi States,” he insisted.
The Cross River chapter responded. The state publicity secretary, Mike Ojisi, mentioned: “A purported social media chat between 5 members of the Nationwide Working Committee can not represent a Nationwide Working Committee of the Celebration, discuss extra of taking such a basic choice.”
The Second of Fracture
At this level, the PDP’s inner coherence is underneath extreme pressure. Two centres of authority now concern directives on the identical issues: dissolutions of state organs, scheduling or postponement of congresses, and the appointment of caretaker committees, and each insist their actions are constitutional.
State chapters are confronted with conflicting orders from Abuja, not sure which to obey. The legitimacy of each choice taken within the PDP’s identify now will depend on whose interpretation of the social gathering’s personal structure holds sway.
A lot of the confusion stems from competing readings of the PDP Structure (2017, as amended), which, whereas complete, leaves room for strategic interpretation.
As an illustration, Article 47(1) states that “the time period of workplace of each organ of the Celebration shall be clearly outlined, and any try to dissolve or truncate the time period of any organ earlier than the expiration of its tenure shall be topic to constitutional process.”
These against current dissolutions argue that this provision means no State Working Committee (SWC) could be eliminated or changed by a caretaker physique except the prescribed constitutional steps, together with formal NWC decision and NEC approval, are strictly adopted.
The query of who has the authority to provoke or certify such steps is itself contested.
Part 35(a)(1) vests the Nationwide Working Committee (NWC) with the ability “to organise the actions of the Celebration and make sure the implementation of selections of the Nationwide Government Committee (NEC).”
Supporters of Damagum depend on this clause to argue that the NWC’s choices, such because the postponement of congresses or the appointment of interim committees, are binding as soon as adopted by a majority.
However critics counter that the structure additionally units procedural necessities for such choices to be legitimate.
Central to this argument is Part 36(2), which states that “the Deputy Nationwide Secretary shall act as Nationwide Secretary at any time when so directed.”
This wording is usually cited by Anyanwu’s camp to counsel that except the Nationwide Secretary, or somebody formally designated by correct process, authenticates a directive, actions like caretaker appointments or congress postponements lack constitutional standing.
That is why Anyanwu continues to argue that choices introduced with out his co-signature or and not using a ‘correctly’ convened NWC assembly are null and void.
The structure additionally imposes strict limits on the authority of state organs.
Part 57(7) explicitly gives that “no govt committee at any stage, besides the Nationwide Government Committee, shall entertain any query of self-discipline as could relate or concern a member of the Nationwide Government Committee, Deputy Governors, or members of the Nationwide Meeting.”
This clause is now central to arguments in opposition to unilateral actions by state chapters; as an illustration, makes an attempt to droop or problem nationwide officers, which opponents argue are constitutionally prohibited. It additionally reinforces the concept that state congresses, nonetheless nicely attended, can not override a call taken on the nationwide stage.
However, proponents of the present NWC-led choices typically invoke Part 31(3), which gives that “resolutions of the Nationwide Government Committee are binding on all organs, officers, chapters, and members of the Celebration, besides the place they’re in battle with the Structure or a better judicial order.”
Of their view, this language confirms that when the NEC or its delegated NWC points a decision, whether or not suspending a congress or reconstituting a state govt, all different social gathering buildings are constitutionally certain to conform.
It’s within the rigidity between these clauses; one emphasising process and co-signatures, one other prioritising the supremacy of collective resolutions, that the PDP’s fracture has deepened.
Actions that when handed with out query are actually dissected line by line in opposition to constitutional language, and procedural disagreements have develop into existential battles over legitimacy.
Even a easy letter saying a brand new congress date now triggers debates over whether or not a quorum was achieved, minutes have been correctly recorded, and whether or not the right officers signed off.
That is now not a mere administrative tug-of-war; it’s a confrontation fought with constitutional provisions as weapons.
Both sides frames its authority not simply as a political actuality however as a constitutional crucial. For state leaders, delegates, and even INEC officers, the query will not be solely whom they help, however whose studying of the social gathering’s foundational textual content they belief sufficient to threat defying the opposite.
The implications stretch far past the 4 states on the centre of the dispute. Each contested congress, disputed dissolution, or parallel govt construction units a precedent that would form how the PDP organises itself forward of 2027.
The stakes are subsequently not merely about immediately’s contests for state management; they’re about defining the constitutional centre of gravity for the social gathering’s future.
Stakes Past State Strains
As these conflicts ripple outward, harm seems in sudden locations. Grassroots organizers specific fatigue; social gathering activists start to query the purpose of allegiance when headquarters points conflicting instructions.
In state chapters, unsubtle indicators counsel that cash, recognition, and future appointments could also be awarded not on advantage however on factional alignment.
Public belief, essential for any opposition social gathering, is eroding. A celebration that can’t agree with itself turns into weak in electoral contests, particularly in states the place it ought to believe. The paralysis over congresses delays mobilisation, coaching, and technique periods for upcoming elections.
On the similar time, efforts towards reconciliation start. Elders and revered figures inside PDP have been quietly advising retreat from open confrontation, suggesting symbolic steps, retreats, and shared committees.
Paths That Would possibly Outline the Subsequent Flip
Two attainable trajectories now lie forward. One path results in restricted decision: concessions, compromises, and negotiated settlements.
Maybe Damagum and Anyanwu agree on a revised schedule of congresses, collectively signed letters, or shared oversight of caretaker committees.
Maybe legitimacy is re-anchored to clear, rule-based processes. As an illustration, panels constituted correctly, notices issued, and INEC notified appropriately. This situation might protect PDP as a coherent drive.
One other path dangers additional unraveling. If conflicting directives develop into the norm somewhat than an exception, factional allegiance could override formal social gathering construction. If state executives settle for directives solely from one faction, the PDP might quickly function as if two events occupy its shell. Authorized challenges, public perceptions of arbitrariness, and defections might observe.
The Home Nonetheless Stands, However Who Decides Its Silence
For now, a lot stays unsettled. Wadata Plaza is awash with inner counsels, emissaries, and authorized opinions being drafted. State chapters await definitive communication. Observers outdoors the social gathering watch carefully, noting that the indicators PDP sends now could matter greater than the outcomes.
What is definite: this isn’t a second of collapse, at the very least not but. PDP as an establishment stays, with historical past, sources, and visual membership. However its capability to behave as a unified opposition hinges on whether or not a consensus is constructed or a cut up is cemented.
If reconciliation prevails, the factional shadows would possibly recede, permitting the PDP to current itself as disciplined and ready for what comes subsequent.
But if the fissures widen, the social gathering could discover its inner legitimacy questioned each time it goes to courtroom, to the media, or to the poll field. Both manner, the strikes made now are defining, not only for 2025 however for the political terrain of 2027 and past.
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