PDP Crisis Deepens In Ebonyi As Faction Suspends Anyichuks, Nwagu, Others

The crisis rocking the Ebonyi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new dimension following the suspension of key chieftains of the party by a faction.

In a statement issued by the Publicity Secretary of the faction, Mr. Nwafor Richard Nwali, those suspended include the 2023 governorship candidate of the party, Chief Ifeanyi Odii, his running mate Sen. Paulinus Igwe Nwagu, former Deputy National Secretary of the party, Hon. Onwe Solomon Onwe, and the party’s Legal Adviser in the state, Chief Mudi Erhenede, among others. According to the statement, the suspension, which is for a period of one month, has been referred to a disciplinary committee inaugurated on Tuesday at the PDP state secretariat in Abakaliki. “Their suspension is for a period of one month, and they have been referred to the disciplinary committee inaugurated yesterday at the state secretariat, Abakaliki,” the statement read in part. Reacting, the party’s Legal Adviser, Chief Mudi Erhenede, dismissed the purported suspension as null and void, describing it as a flagrant disobedience to a subsisting court judgment which, he said, nullified all congresses conducted by the faction. Erhenede, who spoke with journalists in Abakaliki, vowed to initiate contempt proceedings against the factional leaders for disobeying the judgment of a Federal High Court, adding that those behind the suspension were acting in ignorance of the law. “Anybody can issue any statement. Are they not mad? Is there any PDP executive in Ebonyi State? The congress that brought them in was nullified. Even the Federal High Court judgment in Abuja last week confirmed that there is no executive in Ebonyi,” he said. The PDP chieftain further mocked Nwali, alleging that he could not correctly spell his surname in the statement announcing his suspension, insisting that such error exposed the faction’s incompetence and illegality. “I have instructed my office, and we are going to serve them Form 48 and Form 49 to commit them to prison because what they have done amounts to contempt of court,” Erhenede stated. It will be recalled that a Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, in suit number FHC/AI/CS/183/2024, had nullified the congress conducted by the faction. The judgment, delivered by Justice Adeyanju A.E., held that the process leading to the emergence of the factional leadership was invalid and inconsistent with the PDP constitution.