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Tag: PDP Govs

  • Wike, PDP govs in mind game over party positions, presidential ticket

    Wike, PDP govs in mind game over party positions, presidential ticket

    The battle for key offices in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its 2027 presidential ticket has entered the mind game phase between governors elected on the platform of the party and Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike ahead of the November national convention.

    The two sides, according to sources, have been working hard at getting the best of deals at the Ibadan convention where officers who will run the party’s affairs and more importantly organise the primaries to pick the PDP candidates for the 2027 elections, will be picked.

    Of particular interest to them are the positions of national chairman and national secretary.

    The PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) had at its last meeting in Abuja adopted the Douye Diri Zoning Committee’s report which recommended that the national chairman be zoned to the north while the south should produce the presidential candidate and national secretary, among others.

    Soon after the adoption of the report by the PDP NEC, leaders of the party in the Southeast, South-South and Southwest agreed on a formula to share the 11 party positions allocated to the south.

    Under the agreement, Southeast will produce National Financial Secretary (NFS), Deputy National Secretary (DNS), National Women’s Leader (NWL) and Deputy National Youth Leader (DNYL) while the Southwest will have, in addition to the national secretary, National Auditor (NA) and Deputy National Organising Secretary (DNOS).

    From the South-South will come Deputy National Chairman-South (DNC-S), National Publicity Secretary (NPS), Deputy National Treasurer (DNT) and Deputy National Legal Adviser (DNLA).

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    Party sources informed The Nation that interest groups in the three geo political zones with allegiance to the governors and Wike are engaged in intense networking to out manoeuvre one another as they gear up for the national convention.

    They are looking at supporters who would not only deliver once elected but would remain loyal and committed to their respective groups.

    The race for party offices becomes complex, especially in the south, since it is also expected to produce the presidential candidate.

    In effect, the state that produces the next secretary cannot reasonably expect to vie for the presidential ticket.

    Sources said party members in the Southwest are waiting for  Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, who is strongly believed to be eyeing the presidential ticket, to make a move to enable them decide who they would put forward to run for secretary.

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan, who is speculated to be interested in staging a return in 2027, has kept the party guessing on his next move.

    His aides have consistently rejected suggestions that he would not be joining the race.

    Only last week, he met in Abuja with the 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, on ‘national issues’.

    Details of their discussions are not yet known.

    Party sources said Jonathan has not shown any inclination to discuss his speculated interest with PDP leaders even though he is often at his Goodluck Jonathan Foundation office, which is only about 12 minutes’ drive from the PDP national secretariat in Abuja.

    Some party elders, including the Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Bala Mohammed, are huge fans of Jonathan and even Obi.

    However, some party members, including Ogun State PDP chieftain, Otunba Segun Sowunmi, continue to contend that Peter has been too far from the party and that he appears being too clever, to expect a ticket without going through party primaries.

    The Southwest bloc, long aggrieved by its limited chances in the PDP hierarchy, is also positioning itself for more impactful inclusion.

    In furtherance of its interests, the two PDP governors in the zone – Seyi Makinde and Ademola Adeleke – lobbied for Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, to host the national convention, and feelers indicate that Governor Makinde, who is considering a shot at the PDP’s 2027 presidential ticket, got a concession for Oyo State to produce a candidate for the National Secretary position zoned to the South and micro-zoned to the South West.

    Some members of the party’s National Executive Committee are said to be making efforts to prevail on the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who remains a staunch ally of Wike, to take the position of Deputy National Chairman (South) being zoned to the South/South East but he does not appear to be too keen.

    If the move succeeds, party leaders would have the crucial support of both Wike and Anyanwu who may be quite strong for the PDP Governors’ Forum and other party structures at the national convention.

    Ahead of the national convention, some state chapters of PDP conducted their wards congresses yesterday.

    These include Edo and Adamawa.

    Reports said the congresses were peaceful.

  • PDP govs meet in Ibadan to discuss party crisis, legal battles, 2027

    PDP govs meet in Ibadan to discuss party crisis, legal battles, 2027

    Amid mounting concerns over the internal turmoil within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the PDP Governors’ Forum is holding a crucial meeting on Monday in Ibadan, hosted by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, to chart a way forward.

    Sources said the meeting will focus heavily on critiquing the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Federal Government, while also delving into the deepening power tussles within the PDP itself.

    Top on the agenda is the legal strategy surrounding the party’s support for the suspended Vice Chairman of the Forum, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, particularly in response to the alleged State of Emergency in Rivers State. 

    Governors are expected to explore legal avenues to reinforce the Forum’s stance.

    Additionally, discussions are expected around the controversial reinstatement of PDP National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu. 

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    Two governors are reportedly pushing for legal moves to prevent his return, following the March 21, 2025, Supreme Court judgment that invalidated earlier rulings which temporarily installed Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye in the position. 

    The Forum had previously backed Udeh-Okoye but has remained silent since the Supreme Court ruling favored Anyanwu, a known ally of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

    The meeting is also likely to tackle the broader issue of building an anti-APC coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections. 

    While former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is championing a merger strategy, some PDP governors, including Forum Chairman Governor Bala Mohammed, have expressed reservations. 

    Mohammed, who once referred to coalition proponents as “marauders,” now reportedly has support from a growing number of governors within the party.

    Meanwhile, PDP Deputy National Youth Leader Timothy Osadolor continues to advocate for a united opposition front, with the PDP playing a leading role due to its nationwide reach. 

    Despite the Social Democratic Party (SDP) publicly rejecting any merger plans through a weekend communiqué signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, Osadolor insists that a broad-based coalition is essential to challenge the APC’s dominance in 2027.

    Said Osadolor in Abuja during the weekend: “We all have to realize that the APC cannot be dislodged without unity among all opposition leaders and parties; the APC has entrenched itself svery deeply and no single political party can take on it head-on without collaboration, so, it is a matter of necessity, not convenience for political leaders to join hands to give Nigeria a new lease of life in 2027.”

    He explained that as Nigeria’s leading opposition party that cannot be ignored in such political plan, the PDP needs to sit down with other parties and play a lead role in any purposeful political coalition now.

  • Court stops PDP Govs, NWC, BoT, others from dissolving pro-Wike Exco in Rivers

    Court stops PDP Govs, NWC, BoT, others from dissolving pro-Wike Exco in Rivers

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order restraining Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) from tampering with or dissolving the Executive Committees of the party at all levels in Rivers State.

    The court also stopped them from constituting any interim committee to replace the officers of the party at the state, local governments and ward levels.

    Members of the Excos at the three levels are believed to be loyal to the  Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.

    Justice Peter Lifu handed down the orders in a ruling on an ex-parte motion file by Rivers State PDP Executive Committee, led by Aaron Chukwuemeka and his counterparts at the local government and ward levels. 

    Justice Lifu further ordered the PDP and others not to tamper with or dissolve the local governments and ward leadership of the PDP in Rivers State, elected along with the State Executive Committee this year at various congresses of the party.

    In a copy of the  enrolled order seen on Wednesday, the judge ordered that on no account should the tenure of the Rivers PDP EXCOS at the state, local government and the ward levels  be truncated by the defendants.

    He directed that the defendants must not, in anyway, allow or permit any other group or persons to perfume the duties and functions of the PDP State, local governments and Ward officers elected between July 37 and  August 31, 2024.

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    The judge ordered the plaintiffs to file a fresh undertaking to indemnify all the defendants in case if is discovered that the restraining orders issued against the defendants ought not to have been granted.

    He adjourned till hearing of the plaintiffs’ motion on notice, seeking further restraining orders against the defendants.

    Listed as plaintiffs in the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1396/2024, are Aaron Chukwuemeka, Oye Fubara Igenewari and ThankGod Bekee, who sued on behalf of themselves and the state, local governments and ward executive committees.

    Listed as defendants are PDP, its acting National Chairman,  Umar Damagun; Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; Umar Bature, NWC, NEC, BOT, INEC and Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed.

    The plaintiffs, represented by Joshua Musa (SAN), claimed that the defendants were making clandestine moves to dissolve the legally constituted state, local government and ward executives committees of PDP in Rivers State.

    They alleged that the defendants including the PDP governors were also attempting to put in place interim committees to replace them to perform the duties and functions of the state, local governments and wards executives committees of the PDP in Rivers State.

    The plaintiffs stated that unless the defendants are restrained from carrying out unlawful act, they would be made to suffer injustice and losses.

  • Wike’s threats ‘unbridled, irresponsible, unacceptable’- PDP Govs

    Wike’s threats ‘unbridled, irresponsible, unacceptable’- PDP Govs

    The Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) has rebuked Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over what it described as his inflammatory remarks. 

    In a statement by the Director-General of he Forum, which comprises all PDP governors, Dr. Emmanuel Agbo, they expressed grave concerns about Wike’s statements, describing them as a threat to the unity and peaceful coexistence within the party.

    The PDP Governors’ Forum stressed that Wike’s comments, in which he threatened to “put fire” in PDP-controlled states, are “unbridled, irresponsible and totally unacceptable.”

    Pointing out that such rhetoric undermines efforts to build and maintain peace, cohesion, and mutual respect among party leaders and members, they called on national security agencies to monitor Wike’s threats closely, warning that no one is above the law.

     “The Forum calls on the heads of the national security apparatuses to take note of threats by Wike to stoke the fire of violence at the sub-nationals as no one is above the laws of the land.

    “It is rather unfortunate that this is coming from someone who was once a member of this highly revered forum as a former governor,” the Forum lamented, reminding the public of Wike’s past membership of the PDP Governors’ Forum during his tenure as Rivers Governor.

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    The PDP Governors further reaffirmed their commitment to the “TOUCH ONE TOUCH ALL” philosophy, which has been a cornerstone of the Forum’s solidarity and mutual support, adding  that Wike had greatly benefitted from this tradition during his time in office and insisted that their collective stance on the affairs of the PDP in Rivers State remains firm.

    “Our position on the affairs of the PDP in Rivers State, as unanimously resolved at our 2024, 3rd and 4th Meetings held in Enugu and Taraba States respectively, are not subject to review by any individual no matter how highly placed,” the Forum declared.

    Hinting that they will work to see Fubara in control as party leader in his state, the statement further stressed the Forum’s dedication to supporting Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, ensuring that he is conferred with all leadership privileges due to him as a PDP-elected governor. 

    “We are irrevocably committed to working with the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party, the PDP, in ensuring that Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is conferred with all the privileges he is entitled to as a Governor elected on the platform of our party,” the Forum stated.

    Addressing the ongoing crisis in the PDP’s Rivers chapter, the Forum urged the National Working Committee to take proactive measures in finding an amicable solution, adding that all parties involved should embrace a spirit of compromise and avoid actions that could inflame tensions among their followers.

    “The Forum insists that it is incumbent on the National Working Committee of the PDP to invoke both official provisions and unofficial good offices platforms to find an amicable solution to the crisis in its Rivers State chapter,” the statement read in its message to the PDP NWC which is scheduled to meet today (WEDNESDAY).

    In a direct appeal to Wike, the PDP Governors emphasized the importance of engaging constructively with the party’s established mechanisms for conflict resolution, pointing out that the party has already set up disciplinary and reconciliation committees and encouraged Wike to participate in these processes.

    “It is inevitable for us to encourage dialogue and reconciliation continuously,” the Forum noted, adding that “dialogue and reconciliation are the pathways to resolving differences and strengthening the party.”