Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the current National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is poised to be succeeded by Sunday Udeh-Okoye within the party's National Working Committee (NWC). The South East Zonal Executive Committee of the PDP officially nominated Udeh-Okoye in a communique dated October 20, 2023. This decision, made unanimously during a meeting attended by members from across the geopolitical zone, stems from the belief that Anyanwu simultaneously holding the roles of national secretary and PDP standard-bearer in Imo would be a distraction.

Stakeholders in the region resolved to submit Udeh-Okoye's name, a native of Enugu, to the NWC, emphasizing their commitment to doing "everything humanly possible" to secure Anyanwu's victory in the Imo gubernatorial election.

The controversy surrounding Anyanwu's dual roles has been a topic of debate for the past two weeks. While Anyanwu emerged as the PDP gubernatorial candidate for the November 11 Imo election, Adolphus Wabara, the acting Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), urged him to resign as the party's secretary, citing his gubernatorial candidacy. In response, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike asserted that Wabara and the BoT lack the authority to dictate who can hold the position of national secretary in the party.