PDP Crisis: Anyanwu Vows Not to Deny Wike Despite Intimidation

As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues to grapple with an unresolved leadership crisis over the National Secretary position, Senator Samuel Anyanwu maintains he is still the rightful National Secretary and insists that no intimidation will make him disown Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

In a Wednesday interview in Abuja, Anyanwu questioned the grounds on which Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah seek to remove him, asking what offenses he could have committed.

The PDP’s internal conflicts date back to the 2023 elections and escalated in December 2024 when the South East Zonal Caucus and a lower court recognised former National Youth Leader Sunday Udeh-Okoye as National Secretary. While PDP governors, the Board of Trustees, and the National Working Committee accepted this ruling, Anyanwu, backed by Wike, appealed to the Supreme Court.

On March 21, the Supreme Court ruled Anyanwu’s removal invalid, declaring internal party disputes beyond judicial reach.

Following this, PDP governors requested on April 14 that the South East present a new nominee, leading to Deputy Secretary Setonji Koshoedo’s appointment as Acting National Secretary, ratified at the National Working Committee’s 600th meeting on April 29.

Despite these developments, the National Secretary dispute continues to split the party leadership, with many blaming former Rivers State Governor Wike, who recently withdrew from the PDP peace pact.

He stated, “My question is, what will Governor Makinde say that I did to him? Have I stressed him for any reason? Have I called him funny names? What is my sin? What is my problem with him? Have I done anything against him? What have I done against him? I consider him as my friend.

When people have a motive, a vision, what would my vision be? Whether you want to be president, whether you want to be governor, what would my position do? My position will end by December. Election is 2027. Primaries are 2026. I will not be there. So what would my position now do?

“His Excellency, the FCT Minister, is my friend and my boss, and I can never, for any intimidation, deny him. Nobody can make me deny my friend because after position, there’s still life.

“This is what I tell my NWC members. We came here as a united family. It would be nice for us to go as a united family. So that we can still meet tomorrow and say we are brothers. We served an organization. Let nobody try to fragment the National Working Committee. We have been here for three years plus. We just have four months to go. Let us do it and go in peace.

Anyanwu also questioned the haste to remove him given that less than five months remain in his term.

“We just have a few months to go. Why would anybody want to break his head? Some people will say Senator Anyanwu, he is pro-Wike. What is pro-Wike? Everybody knows his role in this party. Everybody knows when it mattered most. He was there for the party.”

Anyanwu urged party leaders to handle the situation carefully to protect the future of the PDP.

He continued, “So, I think that our parties should be very careful. They should be very, very careful.

“And you see, I respect our governors. I respect them because I know it’s not easy to be a governor. But that you’re a governor does not mean that you cannot come out and tell your colleagues the truth. They know the truth. Why are they shying away from it? They know the truth.”