The faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike has rejected Saturday’s, November 15, expulsion of prominent party leaders at a convention in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
This comes as four state chapters of the party also rejected the outcome of the convention, in what observers describe as a revolt against governor Seyi Makinde’s attempts to consolidate control over the party.
Over 3,000 delegates gathered in Ibadan to elect new leaders for the main opposition party, despite conflicting court orders.
The federal high court sitting in Abuja had on Friday, November 14, ordered the PDP to suspend its national convention and restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from monitoring the same.
At the convention in Ibadan, following a motion moved by former PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman chief Bode George, the party announced the expulsion of Nyesom Wike, former Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose, ex-national vice chairman (south-south) chief Dan Orbih, and several others.
However, Abdulrahman Mohammed, one of the leaders expelled, described the development as “laughable” and vowed to continue his duties as acting national chairman.
Mohammed was appointed acting chairman after the Wike-led faction suspended former national chairman Umar Damagum and the entire National Working Committee (NWC).
Speaking on Sunday, November 16, Mohammed said the Ibadan gathering was not a valid convention, highlighting that it violated a court order.
“What happened in Ibadan was not a convention. It was held in violation of a valid court order. Nigerians should not lose sleep because the PDP remains on course to offer them good governance.
“It is laughable that people who violated court orders would, in that violation, announce the expulsion of party leaders like us. They had no power to expel us in the first instance. All we can say is that very soon, we will continue in the day-to-day running of our party affairs,” Mohammed said.
Similarly, Umar Bature, who until recently was the PDP’s national organizing secretary, said what took place in Ibadan was an act of illegality even as he vowed to discharge his role until December 8, when the tenure of the Damagum-led NWC is expected to elapse.
Bature said, “What they called a convention was illegal, and all actions taken remain illegal. There is nothing to challenge.”
A member of the Wike-led bloc and incumbent deputy national youth leader of the party, Timothy Osadolor, pointed out that the expulsion of Wike and others cannot stand, given that the convention where the decision was taken violated a court order.
“Those three or four governors went to Ibadan to entertain themselves. So, all they did there was for the purpose of entertainment. How can they be talking about expelling anybody when they had no right to hold the convention in the first place?
“Out of the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory, only 17 states had their delegates accredited for their so-called convention. 17 state chapters cannot conduct a valid convention for the PDP,” Osadolor said.
Osadolor urged governor Makinde, who led other PDP leaders to Ibadan, to apologize to party leaders across the country and join hands with others to reposition the PDP ahead of the 2027 general election.
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