ABUJA: A fight broke out between thugs loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and those loyal to his challenger, Hon. Sunday Udo-Okoye, after the latter was forced out of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) Hall venue of the 79th Board of Trustees meeting.
Trouble started when Anyanwu’s loyalists who were already seated in the hall, drew the Ahmed Makarfi-led BoT Secretariat to Udo-Okoye’s presence.
They insisted that Udo-Okoye should leave because he was not a member of the board.
To demonstrate their seriousness, one
of Anyanwu’s aides, Emmanuel Okoronkwo took it upon himself to physically remove Udo-Okoye after manhandling him and pushing him out of the hall.
Outnumbered, Ude-Okoye who was at this time outside the hall, beckoned on his supporters who were lurking outside. Some of them scaled the Secretariat fence to force their principal back into the hall but they were prevented from doing by the armed security operatives.
The operatives were however able to temporarily contain the situation and the 79th BoT meeting went ahead.
Earlier, Anyanwu who was the first to arrive took his seat on the high table alongside the BoT Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara and Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagun.
His rival, Udo-Okoye who was dressed in a blue national attire with a red cap; walked into the hall at exactly 12:02 pm and also took a seat at the extreme end of the high table. He sat through the opening ceremony.
The BoT Chairman, Senator Wabara, addressed the gathering where he implored all to set aside personal interests to rebuild the party in the interest of Nigerians.
Speaking in a similar vein, Damagum in his address of welcome accused party leaders of fueling the crisis in the party.
He called on everyone to conduct a soul search and make sacrifices for the party’s survival.
As at the time of filing this report (1:35pm), three Army pick up trucks had arrived at the Secretariat and are packed meters away from the venue of the meeting. The BoT meeting is still ongoing.
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