Makinde, not Wike, is causing PDP headaches – Anyanwu

Senator Samuel Anyanwu has insisted he remains the substantive National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, dismissing the weekend convention in Ibadan as “a jamboree” lacking legitimacy. Now leading a bloc loyal to the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, following the factionalisation of the party in the build-up to the Ibadan convention, Anyanwu, in an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, monitored by DIRISU YAKUBU, says Governor Seyi Makinde must not allow his 2027 presidential ambition to kill the PDP, even as he called on him to join hands with others to reposition the party

Can we refer to you as a suspended PDP National Secretary?

I am the Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party. I was suspended, but I resisted. There was no basis to suspend me in the first place. The party appears to have a new leadership under Tanimu Turaki (SAN), and there are reports that you, FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, and others were suspended at the Ibadan convention for anti-party activities.

How do you respond?

I was elected for four years. My tenure ends at midnight on December 7, 2025. I remain the substantive Secretary of the PDP. Until this tenure elapses, I remain the authentic National Secretary of our great party, the PDP.

What do you make of what happened in Ibadan?

For me, it’s just a jamboree. The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, commissioned a gigantic motor park project. What I saw in Ibadan was simply the commissioning of a motor park project. There was no convention. You need to ask yourself. How many states participated in the said convention? We have 36 states in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory. How many states sent their delegates to Ibadan?

What exactly do you mean by that?

If there was a convention, as National Secretary, I should have communicated that to INEC. No such communication was made. Without a notification to INEC by the National Secretary of a political party, such a party cannot convene a national convention.

But you were at the National Executive Committee meeting where the convention date and committees, including the one chaired by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, were constituted. Didn’t you convene the convention?

If there was truly a convention, was any letter sent to INEC? No. Sixteen states have not held their congresses. The entire Southeast never had congresses. There are no excos in Anambra, Ebonyi, and several other states. That’s why I said what happened was a jamboree. Only a few states attended. You call that a convention? I even saw someone dancing on stage in Ibadan, talking about obeying the rule of law. I laughed!

You mentioned Bode George. What is your point?

Someone who said he doesn’t believe in a jamboree party went to Lagos to dissolve the party exco whose tenure runs till March, just because he wants to produce his preferred General Secretary. It’s funny! We also have a court order. The Acting National Chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, has repeatedly said the PDP is a law-abiding organisation. So, we must obey the court’s judgment. And, don’t forget, they have appealed the judgment too.

What issue do you have with the former National Chairman, Amb Umar Damagum? Is it personal?

Damagum is my friend. But he is incompetent, and I have covered up for him. He is handing over the party to the PDP Governors’ Forum. Even members of the National Executive Committee know the problems in the party. Nothing personal against him, but the truth must be told always.

It looks like only you, the National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, and the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, are on one side. The rest are with Damagum.

That’s not correct.

But they attended the convention you were absent from.

Those who attended are the ones controlled by Governor Makinde. Those who know how these things work stay away and that was the right thing to do.

And the rest of you are controlled by Wike?

Wike is my friend. I won’t abandon my friendship with him because of politics.

There are claims that you and Wike are working to destroy the party.

That’s false! If anyone wants the party to survive, it is Wike. Even after he was negotiated out of the last primary, he still supported the party. During the G-5 period, I wasn’t part of them; I supported the party. I contested for governorship under this platform, and if I contest again, it will still be under PDP. So why would I want to kill the party? The right thing must be done.

You keep mentioning Governor Makinde. Why?

Yes, because he caused the crisis at the dead end. He divided the National Working Committee. He pulled members from the Southwest to work with him against others.

Aren’t Wike and Makinde very good friends?

They are political friends. Let me tell you: I picked governorship nomination forms to run in 2019 the same day as Makinde and Governor Bala Mohammed. I won the primaries before it was taken from me. I didn’t die. I moved on. I know him well. I have nothing personal against him. He should drop this ego and unify the party. I even heard he wants to run for president. If you want to run for president, would you want to kill the party?

Has he shared his ambition with you?

No. He is all over the media. That’s the truth.

You have been expelled. How are you handling it?

I have just told you I have not been expelled. You expelled me? What platform do they have to expel me?