*Damagum's Wisdom, Anyanwu's Challenge, and Cost of Illegality*
In February 2025, His Excellency Ambassador Umar Damagum, Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, penned a memo to the National Working Committee clarifying the legal stance on the National Secretary position.
With wisdom and seasoned diplomatic insight, Damagum urged the NWC to exercise patience and await INEC's guidance, the body tasked with regulating political parties in Nigeria. Yet, defying Damagum's counsel, some NWC members, allegedly monetized by opponents of National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu, pushed forward with unlawful actions.
After weeks of their missteps and maneuvering, the Supreme Court ruled decisively on March 21, 2025. It upheld all of Senator Anyanwu's claims, affirming his role as National Secretary and voiding the dubious 2023 and 2024 rulings of the Enugu High Court and Court of Appeal respectively. The apex court laid bare the folly of Anyanwu's adversaries and their lapdogs within the NWC.
Amid this turmoil, Senator Anyanwu remained composed, likely pondering why certain figures in privileged roles would demean their offices to target him. He might have wondered how Excellencies could stoop to act like political trolls, risking the party's foundation for personal agendas, or how those whose INEC nomination forms he endorsed could turn against him unjustly.
In this frame of mind, Anyanwu issued a bold challenge to the Governors, setting a condition for his resignation. "Show the public if I ever sought or received even a bottle of water from you, and I will step down," he declared at a Southeast PDP stakeholders' meeting on May 19, 2025. Three weeks later, not one Governor, not even Enugu's Peter Mbah, has responded.
As the saying goes, the grass suffers when elephants clash. The fallout from this Illegality is severe. The PDP has lost serving and former governors, numerous National and State Assembly members, and countless others to the All Progressives Congress, fearing for their political futures. The party, which once held four governorships in the oil-rich Southsouth zone, now clings to two, with rumors swirling that Governor Siminalayi Fubara's potential defection could reduce it to one. Whispers of further losses loom nationwide.
Worse, any national meetings, congresses, or primaries conducted without Senator Anyanwu's signed notice, as required by the PDP Constitution and Electoral Act, are legally void. This includes the Anambra State gubernatorial primary and the recent National Executive Committee meeting. Even the proposed August National Convention date lacks legal weight, as the notice of NEC meeting which adopted the Governors' proposal did not come from Senator Anyanwu. As I have noted previously, our leaders may have acted in good faith, but the party must rectify its errors.
The path forward lies in unity. Those committed to the PDP's success must align with the Acting National Chairman, National Secretary, and other dedicated stakeholders to uphold the party's constitutional processes impartially. Doing what is right will bring glory to the party, but doing otherwise attracts consequences.
'Tonye Barcanista