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By Lawrence Agbo
The factional leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to Kabiru Turaki has insisted that its planned special convention to endorse former President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2027 presidential election will go ahead despite opposition from Nyesom Wike and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
The convention is scheduled for Saturday at the A-Class Park and Event Centre in Abuja, where delegates are expected to ratify Jonathan as the party’s presidential candidate.
The development comes after the FCTA issued a directive warning hotels, event centres and other public facilities in Abuja against hosting gatherings organised by political groups not recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The administration also threatened to revoke the titles of facilities used by what it described as “illegal organisations.”
The warning is believed to target the Turaki-led faction of the PDP, which is locked in a leadership battle with the camp backed by Wike and recognised by INEC.
Reacting in a statement on Friday, Ini Ememobong, spokesperson of the Turaki faction, said the event centre had already received full payment for the convention, and all relevant security agencies had been informed ahead of the gathering.
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He disclosed that the party’s lawyers had been instructed to formally remind the venue management of the binding agreement already in place.
Ememobong maintained that there was no legal basis for stopping the convention, stressing that the ratification event for Jonathan’s candidature would hold as planned by 10 a.m. on Saturday.
“We state here, and for the record, that we had furnished consideration in full to consummate the earlier offer and acceptance. Furthermore, we had duly notified all relevant security agencies about the event. We have directed our lawyers to write to A Class Event Centre, reminding them of these facts,” the statement reads.
“Having satisfied these requirements, we reiterate that the special convention to ratify the presidential candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan will hold as scheduled on Saturday, 30th May, 2026, at A-Class Event Centre, Wuse 2, Abuja, by 10 am.
“We are certain that Nigeria is a country governed by law, and any attempt to use force to suppress political dissent and opposition is an aberration which must be resisted by all people of good conscience,” Ememobong stated.
Speaking further, he added that no law empowers the minister to determine which events should be held in Abuja.
“Such limitless powers are strange to a democratic republic, but available and operational only under an emperor — a title that President Tinubu has been struggling to deny,” he added.
