October 02, (THEWILL) — The crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) worsened on Wednesday after the party’s National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, disowned the reported dissolution of the Akwa Ibom State Working Committee (SWC) led by Hon. Aniekan Akpan.
Earlier, the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, announced the dissolution of the Akwa Ibom Exco and the inauguration of a 31-member Caretaker Committee chaired by Barrister Igwat Umoren. The caretaker body was expected to serve for three months pending fresh congresses.
But in a swift reaction, Anyanwu declared the announcement null and void, insisting the NWC never convened to take such a decision.
“My attention has been drawn to the purported press release by the National Publicity Secretary announcing the dissolution of the Akwa Ibom SWC. For clarity, that press release should be discountenanced because there was no formal sitting of the NWC where such a decision was taken,” he said.
Describing the action as unconstitutional, Anyanwu stressed that the publicity secretary has no powers to implement decisions of the NWC. He therefore directed the Akpan-led Exco to remain in office, affirming that “the state working committee of the PDP in Akwa Ibom stands undissolved.”
In response, Akpan convened an emergency meeting at the party’s state secretariat in Atan Offot, Uyo, where he reaffirmed his leadership and dismissed the sack notice as baseless. His executive subsequently passed a vote of confidence in him.
The crisis deepened further when one of those listed as a member of the newly announced caretaker committee, Barrister Ekpong Edem, rejected his appointment, describing the exercise as “illegal” and pledging loyalty to Akpan under whom he currently serves as Senatorial Vice Chairman.
The conflicting positions have thrown the PDP’s Akwa Ibom chapter into fresh uncertainty, exposing cracks in the party’s national leadership and raising questions about its internal cohesion ahead of state congresses.
