The internal crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has escalated, with top officials issuing conflicting directives for key meetings.
Embattled National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Taofeek Arapaja, have released rival statements summoning different meetings for the same day, intensifying the leadership tussle.
Anyanwu, in defiance of the decision taken during the party’s 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on May 27, issued a notice convening a Special Expanded National Caucus Meeting today, instead of the expected 100th NEC meeting.
However, Arapaja countered, urging members to ignore Anyanwu’s notice and affirming that the party would proceed with the 100th NEC meeting as originally scheduled.
He made the call during a media briefing at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja.
Supporting Arapaja, members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Board of Trustees (BoT) insisted the NEC meeting must go ahead.
Anyanwu, in his statement, invited a wide range of party stakeholders, including statutory national caucus members, deputy national officers, BoT members, state chairmen, national assembly caucus members, ex-NWC members still in the party, and former governors and governorship candidates.
Amid the confusion, Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, released a statement clarifying that the 100th NEC meeting was officially postponed for statutory reasons—not in defiance of the 99th NEC resolution.
He confirmed that an Expanded National Caucus Meeting would hold today instead.
Further muddying the waters, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, issued a notice scheduling the NEC meeting for 1 p.m at the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza—just an hour before the caucus meeting reportedly fixed by Damagum’s camp for 2 p.m. at the same venue.
The overlapping schedules and conflicting directives reflect deepening divisions within the PDP, as power struggles and factional interests threaten party cohesion ahead of future elections.
Writing by Victorson Agbenson