he lingering crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has deepened, fueling speculation that Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, may soon part ways with the party.
At the heart of the dispute is the PDP’s failure to ratify Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary to replace Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who contested the November 2023 Imo governorship election. The South East chapter of the PDP, which nominated Udeh-Okoye for the position, has repeatedly expressed anger over what it describes as deliberate neglect by the party’s leadership.
In a communiqué issued after its Zonal Executive Committee meeting held at the Enugu Government House on May 14, the South East PDP warned that it was running out of patience. The statement, signed by the zonal chairman, Chief Ali Odefa, stated that if the national leadership continued to ignore their demand, members from the region would be forced to “reconsider their relationship with the PDP going forward.”
Adding his voice, former Senate President and Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, lamented the persistent marginalisation of the South East despite its long-standing loyalty to the party since 1998. “We have been taken for granted for too long,” Wabara said. “If this position were in the South-South, it would have been resolved immediately. But when it involves the Igbo man, politics comes into play. We may have to rethink our place in this party, though I still believe the National Working Committee can do the right thing.”
The unresolved leadership tussle has left the PDP deeply divided, with the reinstatement of Anyanwu — a known ally of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike — further worsening internal tensions. Many party loyalists fear the crisis could cripple the PDP’s chances ahead of the 2027 general elections.
During Governor Seyi Makinde’s peace visit to Enugu on June 30, Governor Mbah hinted that both he and other South East leaders might withdraw from the party if the leadership failed to resolve the issue. “We reserve the right to review our continued membership of the PDP if the party remains unwilling to put its house in order,” he warned.
As the infighting persists, the National Alliance for Democratic Governance (NADG), a civil society group, predicted that the current acting national chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagun, could go down in history as the man who “presided over the PDP’s final collapse.”
The internal struggle between Damagun and Anyanwu has since escalated into open confrontation, with both men reportedly sending conflicting letters to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), further deepening the cracks within the once-dominant opposition party.
