INEC Rejects PDP’s NEC Meeting Notice Over Missing National Secretary Signature
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) notification of its scheduled 100th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, claiming a violation of procedural standards.
In a letter dated 13 June 2025 and written to the party’s national chairman, the Commission stated that the notification did not conform with the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.
INEC particularly highlighted Part 2(12)3, which states that “the National Chairman and National Secretary of the Party shall jointly sign the notice of convention, congress, conference, or meeting and submit it to the Commission.”
The letter, issued by the Acting Secretary to the Commission, Hajiya Hau’ru Aminu, emphasised that the PDP’s notice lacked the necessary joint support.
While the notification was made within the legal limit of 21 days, it was apparently signed only by the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, without the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu’s, signature.
“The Commission informs you that the notice is not in compliance…” “Be guided,” the message stated in part.
The PDP wrote to INEC on May 30, 2025, alerting the Commission of its intention to hold the NEC meeting on June 30 at its National Secretariat in Abuja.
The meeting is anticipated to address critical party issues such as ongoing internal leadership disagreements, confirmation of zonal congresses, and committee reports.
Meanwhile, the PDP has been embroiled in a serious internal crisis, fuelled primarily by the aftermath of the 2023 elections.
Recently, the party has seen a surge of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly in the National Assembly and state organisations.
Prominent personalities in Delta State, including Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy, Monday Onyeme, and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as well as other commissioners and political stakeholders, defected to the APC in April.
Following the wave of defections, the PDP National Working Committee convened an emergency meeting at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja the same month.
Amid the internal squabbles, Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and other G5 members gathered on June 9 to urge for the PDP’s 2027 presidential ticket to be zoned to the country’s southern area.
Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate in 2023, has begun negotiations in recent months to establish a powerful opposition coalition for 2027.
These conversations include significant political heavyweights such as Peter Obi and Nasir El-Rufai, with whom he hopes to join against what he and others regard as the APC’s encroaching “one-party state”.
Meanwhile, some party members have rejected coalition proposals, and party leaders such as Bode George have boasted about resolving and returning ahead of the party’s upcoming NEC conference.