No Court Order Stops Our Convention, PDP Tells Wike Camp
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed reports suggesting that its planned national convention could be derailed by legal actions. Party spokesman Debo Ologunagba, speaking during a live interview, made it clear that there is “no court order, not one that I am aware of,” preventing the gathering.
Ologunagba explained that preparations for the convention were being handled in line with the PDP constitution, decisions of the National Executive Committee (NEC), and established party guidelines. He pointed to the 101st and 102nd NEC meetings, where both the zoning committee and the convention organising committee were properly constituted, stressing that the entire process has followed due process.
Concerns of exclusion, particularly from allies of Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, were also dismissed. According to Ologunagba, all NEC members and stakeholders were duly informed through public notices in national newspapers, meaning no one could claim to have been sidelined.
The clarification comes against the backdrop of rising tensions within the party. Wike’s faction has demanded that six conditions be met before the convention can be considered valid. These include fresh congresses in Ebonyi and Anambra, a new Southeast zonal congress, recognition of the Calabar South-South congress upheld by court rulings, immediate conduct of Ekiti local government congresses, rejection of any micro-zoning beyond NEC’s approved formula, and retention of the national chairmanship in the North-Central zone as agreed in 2021. The group insists that failure to address these points could undermine the legitimacy of the convention.
PDP leaders, however, have struck a defiant tone. Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, Convention Committee Chairman Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, and Governors Forum Chairman Bala Mohammed of Bauchi have all insisted that the convention will go ahead as planned. Fintiri assured members that the process would be open and competitive, encouraging aspirants to test their popularity at the convention rather than resorting to threats. Mohammed was even more blunt, dismissing the dissent as an attempt at blackmail and declaring that the party would not be cowed.
With both sides holding firm, the stage is set for a potentially contentious PDP convention in Ibadan. For now, the party leadership maintains that it is on solid legal and constitutional ground, while Wike’s loyalists warn that their concerns must be addressed to preserve unity and fairness within Nigeria’s main opposition party.
