Leaders of the troubled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had hoped that the social gathering’s latest nationwide conference would mark the start of a long-awaited renewal, a symbolic step towards stabilising a fractured political construction and sending a message to Nigerians that the nation’s largest opposition social gathering nonetheless had the capability to problem for energy in 2027. As an alternative, the occasion deepened the disaster rocking the once-vibrant ruling social gathering.
Days after the Ibadan elective conference, the PDP was once more drifting by one of the turbulent moments of its 27-year historical past, battling authorized confusion, expulsions, boycotts, violent confrontations, and a widening belief deficit amongst its prime leaders.
But the storm didn’t begin in Ibadan, the host metropolis of the elective nationwide conference. It started within the courts. Days earlier than delegates arrived, the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Abuja had halted the train following a swimsuit filed by three social gathering officers who alleged constitutional breaches. Justice James Omotosho had restrained the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) from monitoring or recognising the conference, whereas Justice Peter Lifu issued a separate ruling insisting that the social gathering should accommodate former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, earlier than continuing.
However hours later in Ibadan, a special court docket pulled the social gathering in the wrong way. The Oyo State Excessive Courtroom ordered INEC to observe the occasion and barred anybody from stopping it. With contradictory judicial directives hanging over the social gathering, the conference proceeded in a thick cloud of uncertainty.
Even earlier than the opening formalities, the inner divisions had been unmistakable. Nearly half of the 36 state delegations stayed away, and 5 state chapters had been suspended. A number of outstanding social gathering leaders, together with the Minister answerable for the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; a former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose; and Nationwide Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, had been amongst these expelled from the social gathering.
Although audio system on the rostrum preached unity and rebirth, senior social gathering insiders who spoke to LEADERSHIP Weekend stated the conference was much less about reconciliation and extra about strategic consolidation of energy by influential governors’ intent on reshaping the social gathering hierarchy forward of the subsequent election cycle.
The disaster, nevertheless, burst into the open barely two days later. On the PDP nationwide secretariat in Abuja, rival factions clashed after supporters of the suspended Nationwide Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, stormed the constructing, insisting the conference was unlawful and that he remained the genuine social gathering’s secretary.
They had been confronted by loyalists of the newly put in management, and regardless of police makes an attempt to limit entry, each camps compelled their approach into components of the advanced. Stones had been hurled, chairs had been smashed, and tear gasoline was fired as police struggled to revive order. For a number of tense minutes, the headquarters of Nigeria’s largest opposition social gathering resembled a battle zone quite than the centre of an organisation getting ready for nationwide elections.
Removed from easing, the PDP disaster could proceed to broaden. With recent authorized battles looming, deepening distrust amongst social gathering blocs, and new confrontations rising throughout state chapters, the PDP now stands at a crossroads.
Amid the chaos, newly elected Nationwide Chairman, Samuni Turaki (SAN), publicly accused a serving minister of main armed thugs to the secretariat. He escalated considerations additional with an uncommon enchantment, saying: “I wish to name on President Trump to come back and save democracy in Nigeria. Democracy is underneath menace.”
His remarks drew speedy condemnation from the All Progressives Congress (APC). Its Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, labelled the remark “reckless, unpatriotic, and harmful,” accusing the PDP chairman of inviting international meddling and warning that such statements undermined nationwide safety.
Makes an attempt to revive calm got here from the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara. He careworn that the board wouldn’t take sides, describing the roots of the disaster as largely self-inflicted, the results of unchecked private ambitions that had eroded inner cohesion.
However the unrest quickly reached the BoT itself. Former Nationwide Chairman after which BoT Secretary, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, resigned his place, citing zoning considerations after the emergence of one other nationwide chairman from his geopolitical zone. His resignation letter, dated November 17, 2025, submitted from Kaduna, was described by a prime social gathering supply as the end result of rising discomfort over the course of the unfolding battle.
A short second of aid got here when INEC rejected a request by Muhammad Abdulrahman, the performing nationwide chairman appointed by the Anyanwu faction, to postpone the December 8 Ekiti governorship primaries. In a letter signed by the Fee’s Secretary, Rose O. Anthony, INEC reminded the social gathering that notices of conference or congress have to be collectively signed by the nationwide chairman and nationwide secretary. For the reason that request didn’t meet that requirement, the fee declined to recognise it.
Outdoors the PDP, reactions continued to pour in. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) blamed the disaster on years of inner decay. Its Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, informed reporters in Abuja that solely defectors prepared to obey the ADC’s code of conduct could be accepted, emphasising that the social gathering wouldn’t accommodate what he known as the “indiscipline” now seen within the PDP.
Former Minister of Youth and Sports activities, Barrister Solomon Dalung, additionally informed LEADERSHIP Weekend that the event within the PDP ought to fear all Nigerians. He lamented {that a} social gathering that after ruled for 16 years and ushered in a return to democratic rule after a protracted army interregnum had been pushed to the brink by forces who “don’t perceive how the social gathering was fashioned.”
“This example ought to be worrisome to us as a individuals as a result of with out PDP, the historical past of our democracy is incomplete,” he stated. “This disaster is a significant menace. It occurred within the First Republic between the Motion Group, and democracy collapsed. We noticed the identical within the Second Republic. The crises of Ajasin and Omoboriowo additionally contributed to the collapse of that period. The disaster in PDP now portends hazard.”
Dalung warned the ruling social gathering in opposition to enabling the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, to “foment hassle” within the PDP, arguing that the APC itself was not protected if people with “twin loyalties” had been allowed to thrive. “He’s setting a foul precedent,” Dalung stated. “The type of politics he’s introducing isn’t even good for the ruling social gathering as a result of many could copy it to destabilise the APC sooner or later.”
On whether or not the PDP can emerge stronger from the turmoil, Dalung expressed doubts. He alleged that exterior forces had been stoking disunity to cripple the social gathering forward of 2027, including that the size of the present battle suggests a deliberate try to stop the emergence of a robust presidential challenger.
Nevertheless, a PDP governorship aspirant for the 2027 election in Kogi State, Aminu Nda Onu, sees the disaster in a different way. Onu, who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday, stated the social gathering will bounce again and win elections in any respect ranges. He, nevertheless, appealed to warring factions to harmonise their variations and share the positions equally for peace to reign.
“Related stakeholders ought to come collectively, allow us to agree on a spherical desk and share the positions for the 2 {groups} equally; this may convey concord amongst them and strengthen the social gathering for future elections. I don’t doubt in my thoughts that the social gathering will bounce again and win all of the elections,” Onu acknowledged.
Removed from easing, the PDP disaster could proceed to broaden. With recent authorized battles looming, deepening distrust amongst social gathering blocs, and new confrontations rising throughout state chapters, the PDP now stands at a crossroads. What started as a quest for renewal has reworked into an escalating wrestle for management, one that might reshape the social gathering’s identification and redefine Nigeria’s opposition politics because the 2027 elections draw nearer.
