•Damagun, Anyanwu flex muscle tissue
By Luminous Jannamike
On the corridors of Wadata Plaza, the nationwide headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Social gathering (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 turn out to be 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 route 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 determination, 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 determination to be binding.
Ologunagba, Nationwide Publicity Secretary, usually communicates Damagum’s aspect, emphasizing govt motion and adherence to declared NWC resolutions.
This twin middle of energy turns into seen when state congresses are concerned.
These congresses usually are not trivial technicalities; they’re the equipment via which get together organs are refreshed, loyalties are signaled, and constructions 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 get together 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 determination 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 stress. Penultimate Thursday, Damagum reportedly wrote to INEC, suspending congresses in Plateau, Kebbi, and Cross River on account of operational logistic challenges.
The subsequent day, Anyanwu was stated to have additionally written a counter-letter insisting that these scheduled congresses nonetheless stand and should proceed.
The 2 purported letters, almost an identical in viewers however opposing in content material, sowed confusion in state chapters. Delegates, native executives, and INEC had 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 stated 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 get together 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, stated: “A purported social media chat between 5 members of the Nationwide Working Committee can’t represent a Nationwide Working Committee of the Social gathering, discuss extra of taking such a basic determination.”
The Second of Fracture
At this level, the PDP’s inner coherence is beneath extreme pressure. Two centres of authority now challenge 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, uncertain which to obey. The legitimacy of each determination taken within the PDP’s title now depends upon whose interpretation of the get together’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 Social gathering shall be clearly outlined, and any try and dissolve or truncate the time period of any organ earlier than the expiration of its tenure shall be topic to constitutional process.”
These against latest dissolutions argue that this provision means no State Working Committee (SWC) may be eliminated or changed by a caretaker physique until 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 facility “to organise the actions of the Social gathering and make sure the implementation of choices of the Nationwide Govt 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 recommend that until the Nationwide Secretary, or somebody formally designated via correct process, authenticates a directive, actions like caretaker appointments or congress postponements lack constitutional standing.
Because of this 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 offers that “no govt committee at any degree, besides the Nationwide Govt Committee, shall entertain any query of self-discipline as could relate or concern a member of the Nationwide Govt Committee, Deputy Governors, or members of the Nationwide Meeting.”
This clause is now central to arguments towards 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 properly attended, can’t override a choice taken on the nationwide degree.
Alternatively, proponents of the present NWC-led choices usually invoke Part 31(3), which offers that “resolutions of the Nationwide Govt Committee are binding on all organs, officers, chapters, and members of the Social gathering, besides the place they’re in battle with the Structure or a better judicial order.”
Of their view, this language confirms that after the NEC or its delegated NWC points a decision, whether or not suspending a congress or reconstituting a state govt, all different get together constructions are constitutionally sure to conform.
It’s within the stress 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 after handed with out query are actually dissected line by line towards constitutional language, and procedural disagreements have turn out to be existential battles over legitimacy.
Even a easy letter asserting a brand new congress date now triggers debates over whether or not a quorum was achieved, minutes had been correctly recorded, and whether or not the proper officers signed off.
That is 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 isn’t solely whom they assist, however whose studying of the get together’s foundational textual content they belief sufficient to danger 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 might form how the PDP organises itself forward of 2027.
The stakes are subsequently not merely about at the moment’s contests for state management; they’re about defining the constitutional centre of gravity for the get together’s future.
Stakes Past State Traces
As these conflicts ripple outward, harm seems in sudden locations. Grassroots organizers categorical fatigue; get together activists start to query the purpose of allegiance when headquarters points conflicting instructions.
In state chapters, unsubtle alerts recommend that cash, recognition, and future appointments could also be awarded not on benefit however on factional alignment.
Public belief, essential for any opposition get together, 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 May Outline the Subsequent Flip
Two potential 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 power.
One other path dangers additional unraveling. If conflicting directives turn out to be the norm slightly than an exception, factional allegiance could override formal get together 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 comply with.
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 exterior the get together watch intently, noting that the alerts PDP sends now could matter greater than the outcomes.
What is for certain: this isn’t a second of collapse, not less than 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 may recede, permitting the PDP to current itself as disciplined and ready for what comes subsequent.
But if the fissures widen, the get together 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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