• INEC toes Wike’s line over PDP National Secretary; again, rejects communication from party
• It’s a sign of things to come— Insiders
By Peter Salami
The crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over the controversial position of its National Secretary appears set to foreclose the possibility of the party presenting candidates for the 2027 elections.
Yesterday, news emerged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had again rejected the party’s communication because it was not jointly signed by its Chairman and National Secretary as required by law.
Pundits note that in rejecting the party’s communication of its plans to hold its 100th National Executive Council, NEC, meeting, the electoral umpire may have given advance notice that it would reject all future communications from the main opposition party, including its crucial list of candidates for future elections, as long as the National Secretary conundrum remained unresolved.
In the notice for the proposed June 30, 2025 NEC meeting at its Wadata National Secretariat in Abuja, dated May 30, 2025, the PDP’s Acting National Chairman, Umar Iliya Damagum, had formally invited INEC.
The letter read: “We write to formally inform and invite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the Leadership of our Great Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has scheduled our 100th National Executive Committee (NEC) Meeting to be held on Monday, June 30, 2025, at the National Secretariat of our Party, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja. This is for the Commission’s information and necessary action, please.”
But INEC in a letter dated June 13, 2025, with reference number INEC/DEPM/PDP/286/iii/80, however, said the notice did not comply with part 2(12)3 of the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022.
This regulation mandates that notices to INEC must be jointly signed by the National Chairman and National Secretary of the party.
INEC’s letter, signed by Acting Secretary, Haliru Aminu, stated: “The Commission draws your attention that the notice is not in compliance with the requirement of part 2(12)3 of the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022, which provides that the National Chairman and National Secretary of the Party shall jointly sign the notice of convention, congress, conference, or meeting and submit the same to the Commission. Be guided.”
Insiders informed this newspaper that this is the second time in recent days that INEC had rejected communication from PDP over its National Secretary crisis. It had earlier rejected its communication for the party’s May 24 Jos zonal elective congress because the letter inviting the electoral umpire to the congress was signed by the Deputy National Secretary of the party.
Commenting on the incident then, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, minister, Nyesom Wike, who stoutly backs Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the substantive and legally recognized secretary of the party, had said, “INEC refused to attend because the proper signatory recognised by law, that is Sen. Anyanwu, was not a signatory to the invitation notice.
He maintained that, “This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least. I have painstakingly put out all these facts so that PDP members and the general public would know the truth,” he said.
The minister had blamed Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde, and Enugu governor, Peter Mba, for seeking to impose Ude Okoye as National Secretary in place of the duly elected Anyanwu.
“Makinde organised some people in the National Secretariat to insist that the Deputy National Secretary should act as National Secretary.
“This is in violation of the agreement earlier reached. To attempt to give credence to his farce, a letter was written by the Deputy National Secretary, calling for a meeting of the NEC of the party,” he said.
Wike further stated that the letter confirming the governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra, duly signed by Anyanwu and the acting National Chairman, was rejected by the party.
This, he said, was done through a rebuttal letter signed by the National Publicity Secretary, allegedly acting on the orders of Makinde and Mba.
All these actions, he said, were in complete violation of the agreements reached and “would not do the party any good whatsoever.”
Observers note that INEC, in rejecting all communications from PDP not co-signed by Anyanwu, has put the party on notice that it could similarly reject its candidate lists for all upcoming elections.
“ INEC has indirectly given sufficient warning on this matter, and it will be foolhardy for PDP to continue on this path. At the end of the day, it would be the party that effectively shot itself in the foot. We have the opportunity to do the right thing now before it is too late,” a party source told this newspaper.