Anyanwu Speaks After PDP NEC Meeting

By Femi Ogundele

Senator Samuel Anyanwu has insisted that he remains the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), dismissing moves by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to replace him.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Anyanwu made it clear that he had not resigned from his position and would not succumb to any form of intimidation.

“I am still the National Secretary of the PDP, and I have not resigned,” Anyanwu said. “The Supreme Court has spoken on this matter. The judgment of the High Court was nullified, and all my reliefs were sustained, including the fact that I remain the National Secretary of the party.”

Anyanwu’s statement came a day after the PDP NEC, at its 99th meeting, received a resolution from the party’s South East chapter nominating former National Youth Leader, Sunday Ude-Okoye, as his replacement.

The NEC is expected to deliberate on the matter at its next meeting on June 30.

However, Anyanwu dismissed the Tuesday gathering as a stakeholders’ meeting, not a formal NEC session, and warned that any attempt to remove him without following proper procedures would render the party’s structure and activities invalid.

“If they say I have resigned and I am no longer the National Secretary, then every congress I conducted, every governorship candidate I signed for, would be invalid. That would mean the PDP has no structure at the ward, local government, or state level. The party must be very careful.”

Anyanwu also stressed that if he were to be replaced, his successor must come from Imo State, in line with the party’s zoning arrangement for the South East.

“Every state in the South East has a representative in the National Working Committee. If, for any reason, I am no longer the National Secretary, the person to replace me must come from Imo State. I was elected by the entire country at the national convention, not by the South East alone,” he said.