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Hon. Chidiebere Goodluck Egwu, the National Vice Chairman (NVC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South East Zone, has urged party members and the public to completely reject any statements or actions sponsored by Chief Ali Odefa, the party’s expelled former South East Zonal Chairman, since the latter is no longer a party member.

Egwu made this announcement on Friday as he began his zonal familiarization tour of the South East’s five states, beginning with Imo State.

All members of the State Working Committee, led by the Imo State Chairman of the party, Rt. Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, welcomed the new zonal chairman at the Imo State PDP Secretariat in Owerri. He was accompanied by other zonal officers, including the Zonal Legal Adviser, Barrister Ukpai Ukairo, and the Zonal Organising Secretary, Hon. Mike Ahumibe, among others.

All of the party’s LGA chairs were also present, with Chief Emeka Chukwu, the PDP’s Ohaji/Egbema chairman, leading the group.

The Imo State PDP Chairman, Rt. Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, praised the party executives’ devotion to the PDP and thanked them for responding quickly to the meeting despite the short notice in his welcome remarks.

He denounced conflicting activities within the party, especially those purportedly planned by Dr. Peter Mbah, the governor of Enugu State, who he claimed was undermining the party’s national secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, by consistently allowing the expelled former zonal chairman, Chief Ali Odefa, who seems intent on destabilizing the party in the zone.

The new National Vice Chairman, Hon. Egwu, asked party members and the Nigerian public to disregard Ali Odefa entirely in his speech to party members. He reiterated that Odefa’s alleged authority had neither party nor legal standing.

Hon. Egwu supported his claims by citing a number of court decisions that upheld Ali Odefa’s expulsion from the PDP and significant decisions that declared the “kangaroo” congress that Odefa claimed had restored him to his position as National Vice Chairman of the PDP South East to be invalid.

Hon. Egwu stated, “Let it be known far and wide: Ali Odefa is no longer a member of this party. Any dealings with him in the name of the PDP are null and void. I urge everyone to disregard his claims and respect the rule of law.”

The zonal chairman pointed out that on February 26, 2025, Hon. Justice Hilary I. O. Oshomah resolved the concerns surrounding Ali Odefa’s PDP membership in the ruling in Suit No: FHC/AI/CS/227/2024, which upheld Chief Ali Odefa’s removal from the party. In the judgment’s Order Five, the court granted “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the 1st Defendant (Ali Odefa) from parading himself as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and/or as the National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party for the South East zone of Nigeria, and from continuing to perform the roles or exercise the powers accorded to the National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party for the South East zone of Nigeria.”

“The court also restrained both the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from dealing with or recognizing Ali Odefa as a member of the PDP,” Egwu said, adding that it is crucial for party members to be aware of this.

According to him, the court upheld Hon. Chidiebere Goodluck Egwu as the PDP, South East Zone’s substantive national vice chairman in Suit No. FHC/AI/CS/2/2025.

Hon. Egwu told party members about the alleged zonal congress that Chief Ali Odefa claimed returned him as the National Vice Chairman. He said that in addition to an order from the FCT High Court in Suit No: FCT/HC/CV/325/2025 that prohibited the PDP and INEC from holding the congress, an Enugu High Court, which had previously been misled by Chief Odefa, also invalidated an earlier order that had been granted incorrectly in Suit No: E/132/2025.

In order to make sure that party members in the zone band together to restructure the party before the general elections in 2027, Hon. Egwu promised to work closely with the national leadership – especially the Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum; the PDP Reformation Committee Chairman, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki; and the PDP National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and involve all stakeholders in a constructive manner.

Chief Mike Ahumibe, the South East Zonal Organising Secretary, added in his speech that Chief Ali Odefa has persisted in disobeying several court decisions that prohibited him from pretending to be the zone’s PDP Vice Chairman. He denounced Governor Mbah’s overt support of Odefa as a flagrant violation of the law.

However, Chief Ahumibe was pleased to see Hon. Egwu emerge as the Zonal Chairman, saying, “The PDP is back. We are rebuilding — stronger and more united than ever. The wave of revival is sweeping through the region and across Nigeria.”

The Zonal Legal Adviser told party members in his own words that INEC had reviewed the rulings and boycotted the illegal congress because of the existing rulings that upheld Ali Odefa’s expulsion from the PDP and the court order that prevented the illegal congress that Chief Odefa had planned.

In order to inspire members in all five South East states, he restated the party’s Zonal Working Committee’s stance. He said that Abia State would be the next destination on the familiarization tour.

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