BREAKING: Wike’s influence under threat as PDP governors defy FCT minister, insists on change

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are making bold moves to establish themselves as the party’s main power brokers, and to weaken the influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in party affairs.

At their monthly meeting in Asaba, Delta State, on Friday, the Governor Bala Mohammed-led PDP Governors Forum (PDP-GF) issued a communique reaffirming their support for the Court of Appeal ruling that recognized Sunday Ude-Okoye as the party’s National Secretary.

The forum called on the National Working Committee (NWC) to implement the ruling and urged them to reschedule the postponed National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to March 13th.

“The Forum noted with delight the ongoing efforts at resolving the crisis in the National Working Committee, NWC, on the position of the National Secretary, and has reaffirmed its support for the Court of Appeal judgment; consequently, the Forum advised the NWC to set up the machinery for the effective implementation of the court judgment,” Bala Mohammed stated.

This move directly challenges Wike and his allies within the party, particularly Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who insists he remains the National Secretary.

“I’m not perturbed about the communique issued by the governors. The PDP-GF is one of several pressure groups in our party, members are not bigger than the Nigerian Constitution and the pronouncements of our courts. I remain the PDP National Secretary,” Anyanwu told Sunday Vanguard.

The latest development comes just 48 hours after Ude-Okoye was forcefully ejected from the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting by Anyanwu’s loyalists, who objected to his presence.

Ude-Okoye was nominated by South-East stakeholders as Anyanwu’s replacement when the latter became the PDP’s candidate for the 2023 Imo State governorship election.

However, Anyanwu refused to vacate the position, arguing that the party’s constitution did not require him to resign.

Ude-Okoye challenged this in court and won, but Anyanwu appealed—and lost. He has since filed a motion for a stay of execution and taken the case to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, tensions between Wike and the PDP-GF have been escalating, particularly over the political crisis in Rivers State.

The governors had advised Wike to relinquish control of the PDP structure in Rivers to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, in line with party tradition—a suggestion Wike outrightly rejected.

“Let nobody threaten anybody. All those threats are empty. I said nobody would take the structure of the party. You can have all the money; if it didn’t dey, it didn’t dey,” Wike declared at a reception organized in his honour by the Ijaw People’s Congress in September 2023.

Since then, a fierce power struggle has ensued between Wike’s camp and the PDP governors, leading to plots and counterplots and a deepening division within the party.

The infighting has split the PDP’s 17-member National Working Committee (NWC) into two factions: one backing Wike and the other supporting Fubara.

Wike’s faction includes Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, Anyanwu, and National Organizing Secretary Capt. Umar Bature.

On the opposing side, Fubara is backed by National Legal Adviser Kamaldeen Ajibade, National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, and National Treasurer Yayari Ahmed, among others.