The rift within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continued Thursday as a faction loyal to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, insisted that the party’s national convention in Ibadan is illegal.
The group also stated that it will comply with a recent Federal High Court judgment, which halted the gathering.
The meeting, presided over by a factional acting National Chairman, Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman, brought together National Assembly members, state chairmen, and other party stalwarts to chart a way forward for the crisis-ridden party.
On the contrary, the Board of Trustees of PDP maintained that the party will hold the convention.
While the party’s advisory body noted that the party is open to obeying court orders, the Board of Trustees chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, stressed that all organs of the party had agreed for the convention to hold as planned.
He regretted that the lower courts were still interfering in an internal party matter after the Supreme Court had rendered a judgment on such issues, stressing that the actions of the lower courts amounted to a challenge to the apex court of the land.
Wabara also stated that the crisis rocking the PDP is centred on the control of the party ahead of the 2031 elections.
Wike camp insist
Abdulrahman, in his address during the meeting in Abuja, positioned his group as law-abiding and committed to reclaiming the party for its rightful owners.
“We are law-abiding citizens, and we are going to be in line with the judgment of the federal high court.
“We are going to obey the two judgments, and we are using this opportunity to call all our delegates across the federation to stay away from the purported national convention in Ibadan. We are not in line with that,” he said.
He promised to utilise his position as a graduate politician to reunite everyone with the party and ensure it becomes a formidable force again.
Also, the FCT minister, while addressing party members, lambasted those organising the Ibadan convention and offering a detailed legal justification for their position.
He vehemently denied media reports that the court order restraining the convention was a mere ex parte injunction.
“Channels should hear this and hear it very well. Go and investigate what happened. They don’t just come out and say, ex parte. No, it is not correct. No court granted ex parte. It was a substantive judgment,” he said.
Wike insisted that the PDP is a party built on the rule of law and due process, and therefore must obey the court’s decision. He warned that no amount of intimidation would sway his faction.
“Nobody will intimidate us. It doesn’t matter how high you are. The chairman has stated here that we will abide by the federal High Court judgment. I can assure you, we will follow it to the letter. Enough is enough,” he said.
Echoing this sentiment, the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT), Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, threw the weight of the party’s conscience behind the faction, accusing certain elements of impunity.
“We have allowed people to act with impunity and flagrant abuse of our constitution. However, we’ve reached the stage where we need to rebuild our party.
“We have agreed that we are not going to a pardon for any convention. And anybody proposing that is an enemy to this great party,” he said.
Our Saturday Convention Will Hold As Planned – BoT
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara, has stated that the party’s national convention, scheduled for this Saturday, will proceed as planned.
He added that as far as the organs of the party are concerned, the convention will hold.
He stated this while receiving the committee report from its six-member committee, which had reviewed the crisis rocking the party over the conduct of the convention.
He said, “It is convenient, or practicable if you want to use that word, for us to go to the convention. All the organs of the party, before these individual opinions had been expressed, had agreed that we would attend the convention. You are familiar with the Governor’s Forum, the NWC, and the Board of Trustees. In our last meeting, our communiqué mentioned our attendance at the convention. But if, for any reason, the Court of Law decides otherwise, because we are relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court, you know, which should have guided the lower courts as of now to make a decision. I mean, in a civilised world, these things are interwoven and interconnected.
“You don’t make all kinds of issues, all sorts of orders, when the Supreme Court has deliberated on that. So, you are essentially challenging the Supreme Court of the land, but in Nigeria, anything goes.
“But as far as the organs of the party are concerned, the convention will hold.
“But if the courts stop us, we are a law-abiding party, we have always been there, we will still get there, then we will probably obey the law, or obey the last order, as the case may be,” he said.
He also said the battle for control of the PDP ahead of 2031 is the cause of the crisis.
He said, “As far as I’m concerned, there is actually no crisis. I’ve always said that if you review my speeches from board of trustees meetings, you’ll see that I’ve consistently stated that all the problems we have in PDP are self-inflicted.
“And you know, in politics it’s a function of interest. Everybody has one or two interests. That’s why, on the board, you have old men, even men older than me, who really don’t have any political or elective interests.
“The problem there is elective interests, which they have even faced up to 2031. Some people want the party to die now, and then they will resurrect it in 2031 for their own use. So we know all these things.
“They don’t believe in democracy or in opposition. Opposition does not mean taking over power. Opposition generally is to guide the ruling party to do the right thing, provided those criticisms are very objective. So that’s what the board of trustees is there for. I am not thinking of contesting for anything.
“So chances are that, naturally, whatever decisions the board takes under my watch will be something to really keep the party alive. And that is why we are there. The secretary, to the best of my knowledge, has no interest in anything other than that the party must survive.
“But some others, we don’t want to mention names, we don’t want to wash our dirty linens. As a diplomat, I don’t speak carelessly. We don’t wash our dirty linens in the open.
“But I’m sure that even those who are against the convention need the party. They need the party, and they will need the party now, tomorrow, and in the future. And this party is a party for Nigerians, for the masses, whether we like it or not.
“It’s a party for the masses, so killing the opposition is really not too good. And we’ve been shouting this, you said the BOT is coming in too late.
“No, we’ve been on this matter for a very long time. But we in the BOT don’t have what it takes to support our positions. So we rely on the governors and the NWC to carry on.
“If you recall, after the 2023 elections, the BOT swung into action, with David Mark heading the code of conduct. However, because we lacked the funds, the Board of Trustees did not have a budget. We don’t have any budget.
“So we could not go ahead. And those who were supposed to provide that money at that time, for the committees to start work, have not provided the cash up to today. So it’s not that we knew right from the time what we would have.
“Otherwise, we would have taken disciplinary action against erring members. But be that as it may, we are in it, but we will resolve the problem,” he said.
Meanwhile, another BoT member, Chief Bode George, has insisted that the convention must hold as planned despite efforts to suspend it.
George made this statement in an interview on Arise Television while reacting to former Senate President Bukola Saraki, who had sought to postpone the convention.
Earlier, Saraki, after meeting with the BoT reconciliation committee on Wednesday, urged the PDP leadership to suspend the planned convention and set up a caretaker committee.
Saraki had warned that the existence of conflicting court orders regarding the validity of the convention posed serious risks to the legitimacy of any outcomes from the exercise.
Reacting, however, George said, “You know, in this country, it amazes me the way people roll around purely for their selfish ends. I am this — the senator you mentioned, Saraki. He set up the first committee for reconciliation.
“That’s quite a while. So what has he done? Telling us on the eve of the convention that we should go and form a caretaker committee. You know, I totally disagree with him,” he said.
George insisted that the PDP’s leadership remains intact, with most National Working Committee (NWC) members backing the convention plan.
