…As aggrieved faction draws battle line

…Moves to scuttle November convention

From Ismail Omipidan and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

Strong indications have emerged that the crisis within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is far from being over.

While the party appears to be putting finishing touches to its preparation for its national convention, slated for Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in November, a group within the party, led by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, appears to also be perfecting plans to scuttle the convention, Saturday Sun can authoritatively reveal.

Although, ahead of the November 16 elective convention, the party had issued a firm warning to some of its members allegedly working against the party’s plans, the camp of the minister appears unbothered by the warning, as he is insisting that unless the South-South Zonal executives put in place are recognised by the party, there would be no peace in the PDP. 

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had cautioned that decisive action in accordance with the party’s constitution would be taken against the minister should he continue to undermine the collective interests of the party.

The party’s National Executive Committee members, including Deputy National Youth Leader Timothy Osadolor and former National Vice Chairman (South -West) Eddy Olafeso, had accused Wike of overstepping his bounds, and had vowed to resist his excesses, stressing that the party was undergoing a rebuilding process and would strengthen its structure through the national convention. They said that no individual could hinder internal party activities, particularly with the Independent National Electoral Commission already involved.

But reacting to such warning, Wike had said: “Well, it (crisis) is over for now. There are a few things remaining and I have told them that they must do it. Our congress was held in Calabar, and there’s nothing anybody can tell us. If they want to have another round of crisis, so be it. In that congress, Chief Dan Orbih emerged as the National Vice Chairman. They never wanted the congress to hold but the congress was held.

“The so-called acting national chairman of the party wrote a letter to INEC after congress was held that the congress had been postponed. There are no two ways about it. The National Vice Chairman of PDP South-South is Chief Dan Orbih. If they don’t agree, that’s another round of crisis.

“The South-East Vice Chairman, Ali Odefa, is no longer a member of the party. These are the things I tell people. What I don’t like is impunity. And for someone like me, we will not condone it. I will not allow it. We will fight it except they correct it.

“They said that they are going for their convention in November. I am not part of it until they have corrected it. Let us wait; there is still time for them to resolve it. Before you talk about the convention, resolve the matter. If the matter is not resolved, there will be a crisis.

“I am not aware that any convention would be held in Ibadan. As a NEC member, nobody has informed me, and no such decision has been voted on by NEC. If a few people gather to make pronouncements, that cannot pass for NEC.  I am not aware of any convention. If a notice of a meeting is not given to members of the NEC, we have the right to challenge it, and nobody can deny me that right,” Wike had declared.

Saturday Sun gathered that the Wike group is already exploring both legal and other options to derail the November convention of the party.

“From the word go, what we were afraid of is what will eventually happen. We were afraid of the court since the minister is part of this government. But as it is, we might end up in the same court because I do not see the party conceding to him (Wike) after all the ones we had made in the past. He (Wike) keeps making fresh demands and if we continue to accede to his demands, we might just end up handing the party over to him in the end, and that is one thing we must avoid,” one of the sources said.

Asked to explain further on the options he believed the FCT minister was exploring to scuttle the convention, the source further said: “You know, we have started our congresses as a prelude to the convention. The minister is using members of his group to create crisis in some of the states, as a precursor to scuttling the convention.” As if to lend credence to above the claim, the party in Cross River State is facing a deteriorating internal crisis as a result of conflicting directives over the state congress to elect a new State Working Committee (SWC).

Last Wednesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba, in an unsigned press release, announced the postponement of the Cross River State congress earlier scheduled for today, Saturday, September 27, 2025.

Before then, an earlier statement had equally been issued by the same Ologunagba, directing the South-South Zonal Caretaker Committee, headed by Emmanuel Ogidi, to assume control of the Cross River State chapter’s affairs pending fresh elections. He cited the expiration of the current executive’s tenure as reason for the directive.

But the Cross River State PDP Chairman, Venatius Ikem, rejected the directive, saying that the congress will hold as planned, today, just as he accused some former party stakeholders of creating an artificial crisis to impose their preferred candidates while spearheading the emergence of the coalition platform at the same time in the state.

Ikem, who is a member of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), asserted that his tenure remains valid until September 29, 2025, insisting that the NEC, and not the National Working Committee (NWC), fixed the date for the congress and that the NWC lacks the constitutional authority to alter it. “The NWC is not the NEC, of which I am a member. They have no moral, legal, or constitutional authority to overrule the NEC’s decision,” Ikem said. He vowed to challenge the purported dissolution of the state executive in court if necessary, stressing that all logistical preparations for the congress were already in place.

“The state congress will be organised by the state chapter. The national committee’s role is to monitor, not to dictate. Our election was held on September 18, 2021, and we were sworn in on September 29. I have submitted my oath of office and allegiance. Let anyone claiming otherwise produce theirs,” he declared. But in spite of the moves for and against the convention, all eyes are on the PDP, ahead of the Ibadan November convention.

PDP tortuous journey to National Convention 

The exercise, scheduled for Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, from November 15-16, is expected to usher in a new leadership for the opposition party. Beyond the election of a new National Working Committee, which will lead the party to the 2027 election, the convention is expected to effectively kick start the party’s preparation for the 2027 polls.

Last month, the PDP at its 102nd NEC meeting had unveiled its zoning formula for the NWC seats and the 2027 presidential ticket, and rolled out programmes for the national convention, which many believe would help bring stability to the beleaguered party. This, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, alluded to when he said “the outcome of the convention at Ibadan is going to give birth to a very solid party having regards to its character in the past. We are truly well connected to the people to ensure that whatever comes out of the convention,  we will be sure that we put our party in a very solid ground to take over government come 2027.”

Expectedly, in the run-up to the convention, PDP leaders, Saturday Sun gathered, are intensifying efforts to resolve all contentious issues, and bring all the feuding parties on one page, so the Ibadan outing would be hitch-free. While stakeholders are excited that after months of crisis, the major opposition party is gradually regaining its groove, the journey to the convention has been a very tortuous one.

Navigating the storm

The PDP, which lost the general election for the third consecutive time in 2023, has been plagued by multiple crises in the last two years. The outcome of the 2023 contests had deepened the schisms in the party, as party bigwigs battle for supremacy.

Firstly, it was the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike and PDP Governors that were squared up against one another on whether or not the national chairman, Umar Damagum, will continue in office. But the crisis that brought activities at the Wadata Plaza to a halt for months was compounded by the attempt by the South-East caucus to replace Senator Samuel Anyanwu, as National Secretary, with former National Youth Leader, Sunday Ude-Okoye. While the crisis over the national secretary position raged, Wike threw his weight behind Anyanwu, with the governors expressing strong support for the ouster of the party’s scribe.

Amid the crisis, Ologunagba, who has consistently maintained that the PDP, as a party of rule and order, would always be guided by its constitution, at all time, posited that the opposition party would resolve all its challenges and reconcile its members and unite for the 2027 contest.

However, at least on two occasions, the party came to a breaking point. The first time was in October 2024, when the NWC broke into two factions, with members of the party organ suspending one another. However, the PDP Governors Forum intervened and prevailed on the NWC members to bury the hatchet. In June, this year, the NWC broke into factions again, over move by the national chairman to call off the 100th NEC meeting, allegedly without recourse to the other party executives. The PDP, had at its 99th NEC meeting, on May 27, scheduled the 100th NEC meeting for June 30th and resolved to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about the meeting of the party organ.

But INEC, in a letter by its acting secretary, Haliru Aminu, to the PDP rejected the correspondence on the 100th NEC, stating that it violated extant rules which requires the national chairman and national secretary of political parties to sign letters informing the commission on its meeting. Regardless, Ologunagba, in his immediate response, dismissed the position of the electoral body, saying it was not in a position to dictate to the opposition party on its meetings. He stated that there was more to the INEC letter, which circulated online for days, before it was delivered to the PDP, than meets the eyes.

According to him, “If the court will not have jurisdiction about what happened with the internal affairs of the party, I wonder why INEC will have jurisdiction over it. Because that is not the job of INEC. If we designate somebody to be the person to sign the letter, so be it. And that’s why it’s an internal affair of the party. The letter was dated June 13th. It took INEC 13 days. Why the desperation to kill political parties? All they need is a one-party state, stifle opposition. Which is just, like I’ve said earlier here, it’s wishful thinking, it’s hallucination. 

“And INEC should know that this is hallucinating. This country will not go into a one-party state and nobody, no matter how powerful, whether you’re a president or you’re a combination of presidents, it will not work.”

However, Damagum after a meeting between some PDP leaders and INEC, called off the 100th NEC meeting of the opposition party, stating that the party will hold an extended caucus meeting on the scheduled date for the NEC meeting.

“I want to use this opportunity to tell you that we will do the right thing and it is the decision of most members of this party led by the organs of the party. The leaders of the organs of the party will have an expanded caucus, so that we will discuss extensively the way forward to NEC. That would be on the (June) 30th. We will issue the notice. There is not going to be NEC, but an expanded caucus,” the PDP chairman stated at a press briefing, in Abuja.

However, that decision ignited another feud in the NWC, leading to a polarisation of the party organ. While some NWC members sided with Damagum, a group of 10 NWC members led by the deputy national chairman (South), Taofeek Arapaja, insisted that 100th meeting must proceed as scheduled, stating that the national chairman lacks the power to call off a meeting duly scheduled by NEC, which is the second highest organ of the party.

Other members of the group included Ologunagba, National Vice chairman (South- East) Ali Odefa; National Vice Chairman (South- South), Emmanuel Ogidi; National Woman Leader, Amina Darasimi, Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshedo; National Auditor Okechukwu Obiechina; National Financial Secretary, Woyengikuro Daniel, and National Vice chairman, (South- West), Ajisafe Toyese.

Arapaja, told journalists on June 29, that “as you are aware, the 100th meeting was unanimously scheduled by NEC at its 99th meeting held on Tuesday, 27th May, 2025. By virtue of Section 31(3) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017) the Monday, 30th June, 2025 date for the 100th NEC meeting is binding on all organs and members, and as such no organ, group or officer of the party has the power to alter, change, vary, veto or convert the already convened NEC meeting.”

Eventually the Arapaja group prevailed and the NEC meeting held. One of the major highlights of the meeting was the reinstatement of Anyanwu as national scribe. Subsequently, the NWC at its 101st meeting resolved to hold the national convention on November 15 and 16, in Ibadan the Oyo State capital.

Thus, the opposition party was able to navigate through its major challenges, and kick-started the process for the forthcoming convention. Analysts say had the PDP failed to hold the 100th NEC as scheduled, the party would have most likely sunk deeper into crisis.

All eyes on national convention

In the last few weeks, the focus of PDP members and supporters alike has been on the Ibadan convention. The chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, while addressing the 102nd NEC meeting, last month, said all encumbrances to the convention had been removed.

The Bauchi Governor noted that “I would say that all the communication to INEC have been signed by our National Working Committee and that we don’t have any determining issue. So, we are navigating and we are working very well, and of course, we will do our best to ensure that this party remains united.”

The chairman of the National Convention Committee and Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, shortly after the inauguration of the committee, assured the PDP stakeholders that the exercise will be credible. Fintiri, who stated that he enjoys good relationship with every stakeholder in the party, noted that every party member interested in vying for NWC seat is free to contest.

“This convention is not chaired by a learner, it is chaired by a credible, a resolute, a fair chairman. So, I want to ask some of us, please let’s respect this party that has positioned us into where we have found ourselves individually in this country.

“We are not going to stop anybody from contesting whatever position that you feel fit to contest but then you have to do it with decorum. Come and buy the form. We will sell it to you to go and test your might, test your popularity,” he stated.

Last line

With the fresh threat from the Wike group, only time will tell if the convention will hold as scheduled. One thing is however clear, from Saturday Sun’s findings so far, the PDP crisis is far from being over.