CONVENTION: Wike group Places knife on PDP's neck

The FCT minister, Nyesom Wike's controlled group in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has threatened to rendered ineffective, plot by the party to hold a national convention at Ibadan, Oyo state in November.

At a high-powered stakeholders’ meeting held at Nyesom Wike’s Abuja residence on Monday night, former governor's Samuel Ortom, Ayo Fayose, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi declared that the PDP must return to the path of equity, fairness and inclusivity if it hopes to remain a credible alternative for Nigerians.

Also present at the meeting was National Secretary of the party, Senator Sam Anyanwu.

In a communique issued on Tuesday on behalf of the group and signed by Samuel Ortom, the stakeholders warned that failure to meet their demands will “render any purported national convention invalid, as legitimate members of the party will be disenfranchised.”

The leaders stressed that the PDP is at a “defining crossroads,” and that any attempt to sideline valid members or ignore judicial rulings will only deepen divisions.

“Unity cannot be built on disenfranchisement, exclusion, or the neglect of valid judicial pronouncements,” they said, adding that only transparency and fairness would guarantee a credible convention. 

The stakeholders cautioned the PDP leadership that ignoring their resolutions could plunge the party into further crisis.

“The PDP was built on the foundation of inclusivity, fairness, and justice. To reclaim its pride of place as Nigeria’s true opposition, the party must now rise above narrow interests and embrace collective responsibility,” they contended.

But the party has taken a hardline stance against the Wike group, declaring that the party will neither be blackmailed nor hijacked.

The clash came to a head in Abuja on Monday at the inauguration of the 2025 National Convention Organising Committee (main committee), where PDP National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum; Bauchi State governor and chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Bala Mohammed; Chairman of the Convention Committee and Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri; and former Senate President and Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, represented by former Kaduna governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, openly confronted the threats to the party’s cohesion.

Wike and co are making six demands: that Fresh congresses should be conducted in Ebonyi and Anambra states, in line with court rulings; that a new South-East zonal congress be conducted; that the party should immediately conduct congresses in Ekiti state LGAs; Respect for South-South congresses’ outcome upheld by the courts; an end to micro-zoning beyond the NEC’s approved formula; and retention of the national chairmanship position in the North Central.

They warned that failure to comply with these demands would render the forthcoming convention invalid.