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Anyanwu, Ude-Okoye fight dirty over PDP Secretary position

*Free-for-all at party National Secretariat

*Aide confirms scribe received hot slap

*Damagum blames skirmish on party leaders

Tensions escalated into a physical altercation at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during a meeting of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) on Wednesday.

The clash arose over the presence of two claimants to the position of national secretary, Senator Sam Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye.

The confrontation began shortly after the meeting’s opening ceremony when an aide to Anyanwu confronted Ude-Okoye, forcibly ejecting him from the hall.

The aide slapped the national secretary and pushed him out of the entrance.

Attempts by Ude-Okoye to re-enter sparked a fight, with BoT Chairman and former Senate President Adolphus Wabara stepping in to restore order but struggling to do so.

The situation intensified when individuals believed to be supporters of Ude-Okoye responded, forcing the gate open in an attempt to shepherd back inside the hall.

A massive security team, comprising police and soldiers were later invited to the party secretariat to maintain order.

The team took over the premises and ordered everyone including the media out of sight.

Wednesday’s clash underscores ongoing tensions within the PDP as the party grapples with internal disputes over key leadership positions.

The PDP acting National Chairman, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, in his opening speech at the meeting, blamed unnamed party leaders for fueling the crisis within the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

Damagum accused some leaders of interfering in the party’s internal affairs by contacting other NWC members directly, even in his presence.

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He expressed frustration over the actions of these leaders, noting that they would not tolerate such behaviour if they were in his position as the head of the party.

However, Damagum downplayed the situation, describing the crisis as part of the usual challenges in political organizations and assuring that it would soon be resolved.

The party boss urged party leaders with personal ambitions to exercise caution, warning that such ambitions should not undermine the PDP, which he described as their only viable political platform.

He also assured the BoT that the NWC is working diligently to ensure the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for February takes place as planned.

Damagum stated: “I want to use this opportunity to assure the BoT, just like the Chairman has reiterated, though we have a little crisis within the NWC.

“I want to say this with the highest sense of responsibility, part of this crisis that you see today within the NWC, is propelled by our leaders that are supposed to unite us.

“It’s very unfortunate, I would say it the way it is, where people are called, we all know the working of NWC, some of you here have been NWC members…I’ll be sitting down at the chairman only to see my members called by certain leaders to visit certain places, without my knowledge.

“Each one of you, if you are the chairman, will find it difficult. And I want to use this opportunity to caution us, caution our leaders.

You may have ambition, but you don’t ride on a dead horse to reach your destination.

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“If you create crisis simply to further your ambition, you may get what you want, but you your dream will not be realized, because by that time, you have injured the horse you are going to ride to that destination.

“And as the conscience of this party, some of us are also complicit. We should look inwards, search our conscience. This party is dear to all of us, it is the only thing we have. The hope of Nigerians today is on this party. So, we should sheath our swords, work towards uniting ourselves so that we’ll hav…

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Anyanwu, Ude-Okoye fight dirty over PDP Secretary position

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Anyanwu, Ude-Okoye fight dirty over PDP Secretary position

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