On Tuesday, the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party got worse when governors who were elected on the party’s platform turned down a Nyesom Wike-backed caretaker committee’s plans to move the party’s national convention and break up important zonal structures. They said the faction didn’t have the legal power to make those decisions.
According to The PUNCH, the caretaker committee, with the support of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Wike, moved the party’s national convention from March 28 to March 29 and 30.
Jungudo Mohammed, the Caretaker Committee’s Publicity Secretary, said this in Abuja yesterday after the National Working Committee meeting, which got rid of the Southwest, North-West, and Plateau zonal committees.
In response, PDP Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo State), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi State), and others who support the Tanimu Turaki (SAN)-led National Working Committee said that the Wike group does not have the power to hold a convention or dissolve zonal committees.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Ini Ememobong, the National Publicity Secretary for the Turaki-led NWC, said that the caretaker committee that supports Wike is lying to itself.
The Federal High Court in Ibadan threw out the PDP National Convention that took place on November 15, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday. It also told Turaki (SAN) and others to stop acting as the party’s national officers.
The PDP governors had already supported the Ibadan Convention, which chose Turaki and other NWC members to serve four years.
The FCT Minister and his friends, on the other hand, said they were in charge of the party leadership.
The governors oversaw the change from former Chairman Umar Damagum to Turaki before Damagum’s term ended on December 9. However, the Wike-aligned faction set up a 13-member caretaker committee on December 8, with Mohammed Mohammed, Samuel Anyanwu, and others acting as NWC members.
Both the governors’ bloc and the Wike-aligned fraction eventually asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognize them, but the Commission turned them down. This led to a number of legal disputes before the 2027 general elections.
The Turaki-led PDP NWC, through its Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong, claimed that its legal team had been told to file an appeal right away and look into all possible legal alternatives in reaction to the court’s decision.
The Wike-backed group, on the other hand, applauded the decision that stopped Turaki and others from working as the party’s National Working Committee. They promised to hold a convention to bring in new NWC members.
The Wike-backed committee’s Publicity Secretary promised that the party would go back on track to win.
He said, “There are some choices that were made, big choices that had a big impact. One of the things that came out of this Caretaker Committee meeting was the change to the date that was previously set for the national convention.
“Remember that at the NEC meeting yesterday, the party’s national convention was set for March 28 and 29. However, after thinking about several things, the date has been changed a little so that the convention will now be held from March 29 to March 30.
“Second, the NEC working committee has also disbanded the North-West, South-West, and Plateau State Zonal Committees. The PDP’s zonal committees will shortly get a caretaker committee. The NEC also approved a schedule for the state, zonal, and ward congresses, which will go into force as planned.
When asked if there was a chance for reconciliation, the publicity secretary said that the National Caretaker Working Committee is holding a lot of meetings with different groups before announcing the National Convention Planning Committee to make sure that everyone who wants to can take part.
“Yes, this is why the committee for arranging the convention can’t be disclosed right now. We wish to make room for other party members who are really interested in joining us.
“So, that’s why we will provide room for more people to talk to each other. There is definitely room for more party members who are coming back to help arrange the convention. We want a convention that everyone in the party will be happy with.
Before the Caretaker Committee met behind closed doors, Abdulrahman Mohammed, the Acting Factional Chairman, said that the party is still united under his leadership and promised to make sure that everyone is welcome at the national convention.
He said, “Under my leadership, the PDP is not divided. The PDP is one. We are trying to have a calm and open convention for our party. I’m confident that party members are keeping up with what’s going on and know that we are really trying to change the direction of this party.
“The party is still united, dedicated to bringing its members together, and focused on moving forward in preparation for future elections.”
“This caretaker committee is also following the PDP constitution and election regulations to plan a National Convention that everyone can attend. So, as we move forward, we will keep focusing on being open, welcoming, and making sure that every party member has a say in the future of the PDP.
Ememobong said that there would be no convention and that the Southwest, North-West, and Plateau zonal committees had not been disbanded.
“They didn’t have the ability or the place to do it. They are currently living in a movie called Fool’s Paradise. They like lying to themselves. The worst kind of lying is lying to yourself.
“We can’t let them have fun if they have chosen to lie to themselves.” The truth is that they don’t have the power to do it. They can’t do it, and it hasn’t been done.
Meanwhile, the PDP’s administration and staff have said again that they fully support and recognize the NWC led by Turaki (SAN). They say that the party’s leadership chosen at the Ibadan National Convention is still legal, even if the Federal High Court in Ibadan recently ruled against it.
The PDP administration, in a statement released yesterday and signed by Gambo Gaude, the Acting Director of Administration, Dr. Edward Ugbada, the Director-General of the PDI, and 74 other staff members, said that the courts did not have the power to handle the party’s internal matters.
The PDP staff argued that the Ibadan Convention was valid because it was called by the NEC in accordance with the PDP Constitution.
The statement said, “The entire Management and Staff of the Peoples Democratic Party reaffirm our recognition, loyalty, and allegiance to the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN-led National Working Committee of our great party, which was duly and legally elected at the party’s National Convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15–16, 2025.”
We support the election of the National Working Committee and all other decisions made at the Ibadan National Convention because they are in the best interest of our party and are in line with the Constitution of the PDP and the Supreme Court’s decisions.
The staff of the PDP, who are in charge of the PDP Secretariat, will not support or recognize any other unauthorized leadership besides the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN-led National Working Committee. This is because the leadership was chosen in a valid way at the National Convention, which was approved by all the party’s legitimate bodies.
“It is already well known from many Supreme Court decisions that matters of membership, leadership, congresses, and conventions of a political party are completely the party’s own business, and the courts have no authority to interfere with or question the party’s internal processes.”
They further said that the party followed the law in section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022, by letting INEC know of the National Convention, which took place “with INEC present.”
The party staff further pointed out that the recent Supreme Court decision in INEC vs. SDP & Ors confirmed that political parties merely need to inform the Commission, which the PDP did.
The group said, “We also know that, according to the Electoral Act, the only time a Convention, Congress, or Meeting would be voided under the law is if the Commission was never told about these events, which is not the case here.”
“According to section 31(3) of the PDP Constitution, the National Executive Committee’s decision (in this case, to hold the Convention to elect new party leaders) is binding on all organs and members of the Party. This is why it was surprising that two former party members went to court and got judgments against the Convention from Justice Kolawale Omotosho and Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The Federal High Court’s decision is plainly not in line with the Supreme Court’s decision on the party’s internal affairs. This is especially true since the subject matter is currently before an appellate court because the trial court didn’t have the right to hear it.
“It is very troubling that Justice Agomoh said our party held the Convention in violation of a court order when, in fact, the Oyo State High Court told our party to do so.”
They were shocked that Justice Uche Agomoh reportedly misapplied the law by giving the party reliefs that they didn’t ask for and even tried to create a Caretaker Committee to impose on the party beyond her jurisdictional power.
They also said that the party’s Constitution doesn’t let any group or person who wasn’t elected to join committees or give themselves jobs at random.
The statement went on to say, “As important players in the democratic process, we ask the National Judicial Council to warn judges who are involved in making decisions or giving orders that make them look like willing tools of the All Progressives Congress to weaken opposition and destroy our hard-earned democracy.”
In another news story, Governor Makinde promised yesterday during the opening of the state PDP Secretariat in Oke Ado, Ibadan, that they would not let vagabonds hurt the party.
The governor stated, “In Yorubaland, we say that when a house or compound is peaceful, it’s because the bad people there haven’t grown up yet.” Those troublemakers in the PDP grew up in 2015. The vagrant had their time, over ten years of trouble and carelessness, but in November 2025, they were forcefully given the way out. So, the PDP can’t allow this kind of behavior anymore.
“All the problems we see now can be linked back to 2015, when the PDP lost power at the federal level and there was no one to lead. That gap made it possible for indiscipline to grow. Those elements would never have been able to get a footing in our fantastic celebration if it weren’t for this.
“When I became a government official in 2019 and even up to 2023, I was on the same side as some of these groups. But I have thought about it, repented, and made a promise to never let it happen again. It is totally unacceptable for anyone to think they can take over the PDP and use it to put another party in power. No, no, no.
Makinde was sure that the courts will decide in favor of the PDP in the ongoing legal battles that have come up since the party’s post-election crises.
“Our leaders who spoke earlier kept saying one thing: truth,” he said. The truth will always win. Lies can last for years, even decades, but the day the truth comes out is the end of lies.
“I have complete faith in Nigeria’s courts. The courts will do what is right because they are the last chance for the ordinary guy and will give the PDP justice.
The PDP lost power at the federal level in 2015. It took till 2019 for a chairman to lead the party back to power in the state. Alhaji Mustapha is the chairman. This building will be called “Mustafa House” in honor of this legacy.
He also said that the PDP National Chairman would officially get the title deed to the property and then forward it on to the party’s Board of Trustees.
“This paper in front of me is the title deed for this property.” Makinde stated, “I will formally give it to the National Chairman, who will then give it to the Board of Trustees, which is the group that holds the PDP’s assets in trust for the party.”
Wike’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said that Makinde was an unreliable politician who would be “consumed by the fire of political treachery he himself ignited.”
“He said he was a vagabond.” He stated he has changed his mind. So, he is initially a vagabond who said he was sorry. He is happy to have stopped being a nomad.
“However, in my place, it is stated that even when a crazy is cured of his madness, there will still be some signs of it.
So, don’t be surprised tomorrow when he goes back to being the same vagabond he said he had repented from.
“But the truth is, we know what he’s afraid of and worried about. We know that he knows what’s going to happen. But sadly, we can’t stop him from being burned by the political betrayal he started.
Chimenem Wodi, a leader of the PDP in Rivers State, criticized Makinde for what he said about the FCT minister.
Wodi, a friend of the minister, stated that comparing Makinde to Wike is unfair because Wike has made a name for himself in Nigerian politics.
He said that Wike has not only made his own house stronger, but that there is no group in Rivers PDP, which goes against what Makinde indicated.
Wodi went on to say that politics is about results. He pointed out that Wike is in charge of all the local government chairmen in the state and that the members of the State House of Assembly are with him, even though there is a sitting governor.
He went on to say, “If you remember, this is what happened in 1953 when Anthony Enahoro made one of the most important moves. And part of it was to save the South and free Nigeria. A lot of folks didn’t like it. This is not the first time we’ve seen this kind of swipe. It is expected.
“When you look at the politics in the West and the man named Makinde, you can see that he is still a beginner and hasn’t done much. In terms of political power and influence, Makinde and Wike are not the same. Wike believes politics is structured since he is in practically every state.
“When Makinde says that vagabonds have left the party, you can’t take Wike away.” Wike has brought the APC and the PDP together, and that is the rainbow coalition in Rivers State.
He quoted President Bola Tinubu as saying that Wike is the political leader of Rivers State. He stated, “And the President said to drop impeachment, but he also said, ‘Look, Wike is the political leader and he said to follow your leader.'”
The president won’t say that if Wike doesn’t have any power. Politics is about getting things done, and Wike is great at it. Wike saved the PDP from going into a coma. Wike has all the local government chairmen with him today.
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