PDP Faction Picks Leadership, Defections Hit Parties, ADC, INEC, APC At War

A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike re-elected Abdulrahman Mohammed and Anyanwu Samuel as national chairman and national secretary, respectively.

Other national officers elected include: Aaron Chukwuemeka — deputy national chairman (south), Yusufu Akirikwen — deputy national chairman (north), Kolawale Olabisi — deputy national secretary, Odeyemi Oladiran — national treasurer, Lado Marke — deputy national treasurer, Eyim Henry — national financial secretary, Grema Kyari — deputy national financial secretary, Umar Bature — national organising secretary and Efere Augustine — deputy national organising secretary.

Others are: Jungudo Mohammed — national publicity secretary, Egwu Chidiebere — deputy national publicity secretary, Kamaldeen Ajibade — national legal adviser, Aloysius Uba — deputy national legal adviser, Osuoha Donatus — national auditor, Adaba Seri Yatu — deputy national auditor, Ogunshe Adedayo — national women leader, Hauwa Shinge — deputy national women leader, Ibrahim Aboki — national youth leader and Momoh Bashir — deputy national youth leader.

They emerged through consensus during the elective national convention of the PDP faction held at the velodrome of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

Various PDP leaders, including former governor of Jigawa, Sule Lamido; former Senate president, Bukola Saraki; Senate minority leader, Abba Moro and minority leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, all harped on the unity of the party and called on aggrieved members to return to the party.

In his remarks, Wike urged members to commit to rebuilding the party and expressed confidence that the party would field candidates in the 2027 elections and reclaim its mandate from those who defected to other parties.

In another development, a wave of defections hit both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition.

It started with the former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who dumped his party for the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The former governor of Kano state, registered with the ADC on Monday at Gidan Kwankwasiyya in Kano, where he was presented with his membership card in the presence of senior political figures, including: the party’s national chairman, Sen. David Mark, former Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal, former minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, former Labour Party presidential candidate, amongst others.

He described the move as a strategic step to “free Nigeria” from the APC’s alleged misgovernance and insecurity, calling on his supporters to register with the ADC and obtain voter cards.

On the heels of that, 27 members of the House of Representatives announced their defections from their political parties and from new platforms.

While some dumped the ruling APC, others moved either from the ruling party to the opposition or from one opposition party to another.

The defectors include: the deputy minority leader, Hon. Aliu Madaki, Ghali Tijjani Mustapha, Shehu Bello, Dankawu Idris, Hussain Hassan Shehu, Rabiu Yusuf, Garba Mohammed Ciroma, Tijjani Abdulkadir Jobe and Ibrahim Mohammed who all dumped the New Nigerian Peoples Party(NNPP) for APC from Kano state.

Others are Hons Jaafaru Yakubu (Taraba), Sadiq Abbas Tafida (Taraba), Ibrahim Mohammed (Kebbi), Bello Shinkafi(Zamfara)

and Mohammed Bassi (Adamawa), who resigned from PDP and joined APC.

On the other hand, the deputy minority whip, Hon. George Ozodinobi (Anambra), Harris Okonkwo (Anambra) and Seyi Sowunmi (Lagos) left the Labour Party (LP) for the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Also, Hons Yaya Tongo(Gombe), Mani Maishinko Katami(Sokoto), Abdussamad Dasuki (Sokoto) and Umar Yusuf Yabo defected from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to ADC, while Akanni Clement Ademola, as well as Oladebo Lanre Olomololaye, both from Osun state, dumped PDP for Accord.

Furthermore, Honsustapha Abdullahi (Kaduna) and Philip Agbese(Benue) moved from APC to ADC and LP, respectively

While Ikenga Ugochinyere, as well as Nwogu Mathew, both from Imo state, defected from PDP to Action Peoples Party (APP).

In separate letters read by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, the lawmakers cited internal crises within their former political parties as the reason for their defections.

Similarly, the senator representing Niger South, Peter Jiya, defected from PDP to APC as he cited internal disputes within his former party.

The defection was formally conveyed in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and read at plenary.

“I wish to notify you and the Senate that I have resigned my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party effective today,” the letter read.

In a related development, the ruling APC and the opposition coalition ADC are locked in a battle over who will succeed in wooing Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed to join their fold.

The tussle came to a head when the APC national chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, led a delegation to visit Governor Mohammed, who had earlier hinted about his move to ADC today.

The Yilwatda-led delegation, which also included Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, held a closed-door meeting with the governor at the Bauchi State Government House for a few minutes.

Governor Mohammed announced his intention to leave the PDP, where he currently serves as Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, and revealed that his political camp was considering the ADC after exploring multiple options, including the APC.

He made the disclosure while receiving an ADC delegation led by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, at the Ramat House in Bauchi.

On the other hand, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced its decision to de-recognise the ADC National Chairman, David Mark, the National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, and others.

INEC, in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the decision is based on a court order which directed the commission to maintain the status quo pending the determination of a suit challenging the legality of Mark’s leadership of the opposition party.

However, ADC kicked against INEC’s decision and demanded the immediate resignation or sack of the Commission’s Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, and all the National Commissioners.

The opposition coalition said it no longer has confidence in the chairman and the national commissioners, as it is convinced they are incapable of conducting a credible election.

Mark, at a world press conference last week, said the agenda was very clear: “to create a situation where, in 2027, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerges as the only option left for the people.”

“We call on the international community to take note of INEC’s actions of April 1st, and of the restraint we are exercising today. We urge them to recognise the clear threat to Nigeria’s democracy and stability, and to hold accountable those who are undermining the integrity of the electoral process.

“We call on Nigerians to defend our democracy. This is a defining moment. Stand firm. Speak out. Participate. Resist any attempt to impose a one-party state on Nigeria. Nigeria belongs to all of us, and together, we must protect it,” he said.

Mark also insisted that the party would go ahead with its planned congresses and national convention.

“We have our congresses starting on the 9th of April, 2026, ending with our convention on the 14th April, 2026. We have given due notice to INEC, and they have confirmed receipt. This is what the law requires of us.

“Let us sound a note of warning. This INEC under Professor Joash Amupitan will be held directly responsible for whatever actions or reactions that follow this criminal path that it has chosen to take,” Mark added.

But APC dismissed as baseless, ADC’s allegations that President  Tinubu and the ruling party were weakening opposition to achieve a one-party state.

The APC NWC said that as of today, 19 registered political parties in Nigeria have the potential to compete in the 2027 election, and that President Tinubu has no power to deregister any political party.

The NWC, at a press conference addressed jointly by the APC National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, and the National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said both President Tinubu and the party have no hand in the Self-inflicted woes of the Mark-led ADC.

Basiru told Nigerians that the present predicament of Mark and his ilk stems from the untidy way they hijacked the leadership of an existing political party without carrying along all stakeholders, resulting in court litigation before the Federal High Court and the adverse judgment of the Court of Appeal.

He said it was upon this basis that INEC predicated its decision not to recognise any of the two contending parties for the leadership of ADC pending the determination of the pending suit by the court.

“The ADC went to the Court of Appeal over an internal leadership dispute that was still ongoing at the trial court, and in doing so, made a fundamental legal mistake. The appellate court found that the lower court had not granted the injunctive relief sought but merely asked the defendants to show cause why the others sought should not be granted, implying that Senator David Mark’s faction’s appeal was built on a faulty premise,” he said.

Basiru declared that President Tinubu, and indeed the APC, cannot be bothered about the contraption of electoral unviability being bandied as a “coalition”.

He reminded Nigerians that the sacked Mark’s leadership of the ADC has insisted on proceeding with its scheduled activities, including congresses and conventions, despite an ongoing case at the Federal High Court challenging their leadership and in defiance of the subsisting judgment.

For its part, INEC maintained that its decision to withdraw recognition of factions within ADC and to comply with a recent Court of Appeal judgement was driven by the need to uphold the rule of law.

In a statement, the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Adedayo Oketola, said the decision was taken to prevent situations like those in Zamfara and Plateau states, where elected officials were removed by the election tribunal for disobeying court judgments.

Also speaking during an interview on Arise TV, the INEC chairman, Amupitan, warned ADC against holding its planned congresses and national convention without the commission’s oversight.

He insisted that the commission’s decision was anchored in a subsisting court order, not arbitrary discretion.

“So if they are going ahead with their congress, with their convention, it’s left for them to look at it, whether it is in contravention of the court.

“INEC didn’t just make a decision. We didn’t just wake up one day and make this decision. There was something that led to it. There was an order of court,” Amupitan said.

Beyond that, INEC announced plans to commence nationwide revalidation of the voters’ register to remove ineligible entries and strengthen the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process.

In a public notice issued via its official ‘X’ handle, the commission said the exercise would target the removal of “null and ineligible voters, such as deceased, non-Nigerians, underage, and multiple registrations,” in line with legal provisions.

“The exercise is part of the commission’s efforts to revise, update, clean and strengthen the integrity, accuracy, inclusivity, and credibility of the national register of voters ahead of future elections,” the notice stated.

Meanwhile, some ministers, commissioners, board chairmen and other appointees of President Tinubu have resigned

their appointments to pursue their political ambitions ahead of the 2027 general election.

They include: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, believed to be eyeing the Bauchi governorship slot;

Minister of Transportation, Senator Saidu Alkali, who is interested in the Gombe governorship race; Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, Yusuf Sununu, eyeing the Kebbi South Senatorial district seat and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, expected to return to the House of Representatives.

Others are: Ahmed Aminu, Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), and Abdulrasaq Namdas, a board member of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), who are both gearing for the Adamawa state governorship contest, and  Chairman of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nasiru Gawuna, who is gunning for the Kano guber seat.

Also, the chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal College of Education, Oyo, Rauf Olaniyan, resigned to contest for the Oyo governorship, while the Executive Director, Housing Finance and Accounts, Federal Housing Authority, Dr Mathias Terwase Byuan, resigned his appointment to contest the Benue state governorship election.

The President, in a recent circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, ordered all political appointees seeking elective office in the 2027 general elections to resign by the end of March 2026.

This move strictly aligns with Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 and the newly published timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

In the coming days, Nigerians are keenly watching to see whether ADC will go ahead with its congresses, which are to begin from Thursday or succumb to INEC.