PDP crisis deepens in Ebonyi as faction suspends ex-guber, others
...Legal adviser vows jail
By Nkechinyere Ewa
A fresh round in the leadership crisis rocking the Ebonyi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) erupted on Wednesday after a faction of the party announced the one-month suspension of several senior chieftains including the party’s 2023 governorship candidate, Chief Ifeanyi Odii. The move was announced in a statement issued by the faction’s publicity secretary, Nwafor Richard Nwali.
The statement named those suspended: Ifeanyi Odii; his running mate, Senator Paulinus Igwe Nwagu; former Deputy National Secretary Onwe Solomon Onwe; and the party’s state Legal Adviser, Mudi Erhenede, among others. It said the suspended leaders have been referred to a disciplinary committee inaugurated at the party secretariat in Abakaliki.
But Mudi Erhenede has described the purported suspension as “null and void,” arguing it violates a Federal High Court judgment that, he said, nullified all congresses conducted by the faction.
He told journalists the faction’s actions amount to contempt of court and vowed to “commit them to prison” for disobedience. Erhenede also mocked the faction for misspelling his surname in its release. (Suit number referenced by party lawyers: FHC/AI/CS/183/2024.)
“Anybody can fly any statement are they not mad?” Erhenede said, according to a transcript of his remarks. “The congress they claimed brought them was nullified in the eyes of the law they don’t even occupy any office.” He said he had instructed his office to serve the faction with contempt notices and take appropriate action. (Extracted from his reaction)
Recall that the state’s PDP has been split into rival groupings for months, with competing congresses and claims to leadership following internal disputes. The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki Justice Adeyanju A. E presiding reportedly delivered a judgment last week nullifying the faction-conducted congresses (suit no. FHC/AI/CS/183/2024), a ruling the faction’s opponents say removes any legal basis for the faction’s claimed officers. The faction, however, has continued to issue releases and assert its authority.
Nwafor Richard Nwali (faction publicity secretary): announced the suspensions and said the disciplinary committee would handle the referred members.
Mudi Erhenede (PDP Legal Adviser, Ebonyi): rejected the suspension as unlawful, vowed legal action and contempt proceedings, and dismissed the faction’s claims to office. (Quoted above.)
Implications Legal experts say the dispute centred on parallel congresses and competing claims to party offices risks further fragmentation of the PDP in Ebonyi ahead of future elections, and could invite more litigation if either side escalates to enforcement measures. For now, both sides remain entrenched: the faction continuing to act as a party executive in its view, and the faction’s opponents pointing to the federal court judgment as removing the faction’s legal footing.
What’s next The party’s national organs have been urged by stakeholders to intervene and reconcile the warring groups, while lawyers for the aggrieved parties prepare their next steps in court. The situation remains fluid and could produce fresh legal filings in Abakaliki or Abuja.
