Anyanwu Rejects Expulsion, Says Ibadan Convention Jamboree

The suspended National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, has dismissed his expulsion from the party, insisting he remains the authentic national secretary.

In an interview aired Monday on Channels Television Politics Today, Anyanwu described the recent national convention in Ibadan as “a jamboree.”

He strongly rejected the emergence of Kabiru Turaki as leader of a new PDP national executive, saying his tenure was never lawfully terminated.

“I was elected to spend four years in office, and I did not relapse at midnight on the 7th of September, 2005. So I’m still the National Secretary of the party,” Anyanwu said.

THE WHISTLER reports that the Former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki (SAN), had been elected National Chairman of the PDP at the party’s national convention in Ibadan on Saturday.

Delegates from 17 states voted at the event, where Turaki polled 1,516 votes to defeat Senator Yakubu Danmarke, who scored 275. Senator Ben Obi announced the results, stating that 1,834 votes were cast in total, with 43 voided.

“It is therefore clear from the votes cast that Timinu Turaki has won the position of the National Chairman of the PDP with a total of 1,516 votes,” Obi declared.

However, Anyanwu argued that the convention that produced new officers never followed the constitutional steps required for such a transition, starting with the mandatory notification to INEC.

“As National Secretary of the party, I should be able to communicate to INEC within 21 days that we are going for a convention. Was a letter for the convention communicated to INEC? The answer is no,” he said.

Anyanwu claimed the convention was fundamentally flawed because 16 states had not conducted their congresses, including the entire South-East, which he said currently has no functional caucus or properly constituted executive committee.

“There is no excos in a number of places. And even the ones that are there have not been communicated to INEC,” he said, adding that what happened in Ibadan “was a jamboree.”

He also accused some party leaders of staging an unlawful celebration while the party lacked constitutional and structural readiness.

“When I heard somebody at the podium, doing their jamboree dancing and all that, saying we must obey the constitution of the party, I laughed,” he said.

Anyanwu accused some party leaders of procuring court orders to legitimise the convention, claiming the judgments were influenced even though he offered no publicly verifiable evidence.

He rejected suggestions that he had ever benefited from such procurement, insisting the ruling in his favour was a genuine judgment.

He also placed responsibility for the PDP’s internal disorder on the acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, whom he described as central to the party’s ongoing crisis.

“Damagum is my friend, but because of the incompetence which I have covered up for him… If you ask members of the national committee, they will tell you that the problem of the party is Damagum,” he said.

He also dismissed claims that his faction is controlled by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, describing Wike as a friend but insisting the real sabotage within the party comes from other quarters.

“If there’s anybody that wants this party to live, than to sell it out of time, it is Wike. And I can tell you that. I stood by my party. And I can tell you that. I can beat my chest and say that. I worked for the party. So how would I want to kill the party?,” he said.

Anyanwu accused Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde of creating divisions within the PDP’s National Working Committee and pursuing an ego-driven agenda.

He claimed Makinde is positioning himself for a future presidential run and warned that such ambitions should not come at the expense of the party’s survival.

Responding to questions about his expulsion, he insisted no organ of the party has the lawful authority to remove him.

“Who expelled me? What powers did they have to expel me?” he asked, while showing a court order he says permanently restrains the party from suspending or expelling him.

“It is a valid judgment, and the matter is still before the court. Nobody should ever contemplate suspending or expelling me from the party,” he said.

His comments come after the Umar Damagum faction of the PDP, during its Ibadan convention, expelled the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, from the party, for anti-party activities.

It also expelled the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and eight others, and dissolved party structures in Imo, Abia, Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Rivers states.

The chieftains were on Saturday expelled for anti-party activities and fostering disunity with a series of litigation against the interests of the party.