Wike’s group backs Anyanwu as PDP secretary, wants presidential ticket zoned to south

Some members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have asked the party to zone its presidential ticket to the south ahead of the 2027 elections.

The PDP stakeholders, including three former governors — Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Samuel Ortom of Benue — made the demand after a meeting held in Abuja on Monday night.

In a communiqué read by Wike, the group said Samuel Anyanwu remains the substantive national secretary of the PDP.

“We therefore unequivocally affirm senator Anyanwu as the truly elected substantive national secretary of our great party,” the communiqué reads.

“In the spirit of fairness and respect for our party constitution, the party must make an unequivocal announcement zoning its presidential candidate to the south in the 2027 election.”

The PDP stakeholders said only Anyanwu can issue notices of meetings of the national convention, national working committee, national caucuses, and national executive committee (NEC), which is the party’s highest organ.

“All the notices not issued by him, including correspondences to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), are null and void,” the group said.

The meeting, it was learnt, was convened by the FCT minister in a bid to halt the planned national convention scheduled for August 28, during which members of the national working committee (NWC) responsible for the party’s day-to-day operations were to be elected.

Although Wike remains a member of the PDP, he is a known ally of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The minister is said to be leveraging his influence within the party to strengthen Tinubu’s chances of re-election in 2027.