PDP crisis deepens as Anyanwu counters dissolution of Akwa Ibom exco

The internal wrangling within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took another dramatic turn on Wednesday after the party’s National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, openly contradicted an earlier announcement on the status of its Akwa Ibom State leadership.

In a letter dated October 1, 2025, and addressed to the state chairman, Aniekan Akpan, Anyanwu declared that the Akwa Ibom State Working Committee remains intact. He dismissed the purported dissolution announced by the National Publicity Secretary, describing it as unauthorized.

“For purposes of clarity, that press release should be discountenanced, because there was no formal sitting of the National Working Committee (NWC) in which such decision was taken,” he wrote.

Anyanwu accused the National Publicity Secretary of exceeding his mandate, noting that it is not within his official duties to enforce NWC decisions. He declared the earlier announcement “null and void and of no effect.”

Reaffirming the authority of the Akwa Ibom leadership, he directed Akpan and his team to continue in their duties under the PDP Constitution (2017, as amended).

The counter-statement has heightened suspicions of a power struggle within the party’s top hierarchy, with national officers issuing contradictory directives on the fate of a strategic state chapter.

Party insiders warn the clash could further inflame factional tensions and cast doubt on the legitimacy of actions taken in the name of the NWC.