South-East PDP Rejects Damagum’s Stakeholders’ Meeting

The crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened on Monday as the party’s South-East Zone rejected a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the acting National Chairman, Ambassador Iliya Damagum. The meeting, scheduled for Tuesday at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, was announced by National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who claimed it had been summoned by the National Working Committee (NWC).

However, the PDP’s National Vice Chairman for the South-East, Chief Ali Odefa, dismissed the meeting, insisting that no such gathering had been approved by the NWC. In a statement, Odefa urged party members and the media to ignore the invitation, emphasizing that South-East stakeholders had already met in Enugu last Friday to discuss matters related to the upcoming Zonal Congress.

Odefa’s stance was reinforced by PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, who also denied knowledge of the scheduled meeting. According to him, the South-East Zone had already held a successful gathering in Enugu, led by Governor Peter Mba of Enugu State, where key decisions were reached. He clarified that any official meeting between the NWC and any party organ would have been announced through proper channels, which was not the case in this instance.

The dispute over the meeting is the latest development in the PDP’s ongoing leadership crisis, particularly the conflict between Anyanwu and former National Youth Leader Sunday Ude-Okoye. A recent Court of Appeal ruling in Enugu declared Ude-Okoye as the rightful National Secretary, but Anyanwu has refused to step aside, citing an appeal to the Supreme Court and a pending stay of execution. His continued occupation of the position has further divided the party, while the NWC struggles to restore stability.