By Desire Emmanuel
The Taminu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, April 1, disclosed that despite the disagreements in the party, millions of Nigerians still trust them and have confidence in them.
The faction of the highly-polarised party said this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, after holding a press briefing, as the party added that data on its portal indicates that the Ward Registration Agents, as of midnight of March 31, recorded a total of four million, two hundred and sixty-four thousand, six hundred and seventy-five members.
The party spokesman added that this figure indicated that the members refused to join other parties, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC) despite despite numerous enticements offered them.
Text of the statement: “As we welcome Nigerians to the first month of the second quarter of this very important pre-election year, we have considered it necessary to highlight the distance covered with the ongoing e-registration of members across all the wards of the country.
“Despite the inconvenience of the very tight timeframe previously announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), we created the digital platform, mobilised human resources (most of whom offered as volunteers), and went into the nooks and crannies of our rural and urban areas where our members reside. The process, which was scheduled to last for three weeks, was by every inch herculean, but as it is said, nothing beats the prepared mind.
“Data on our portal indicates that our Ward Registration Agents, as at midnight of March 31, 2026, recorded a total of 4,264,675 (four million, two hundred and sixty-four thousand, six hundred and seventy-five) members.
“While our members are clearly more than this number, it is needful to commend those who have kept faith despite the current challenges we have faced in the recent past.
“This, for us, is a constant reminder of the responsibility that we carry to ensure that the political future of these millions of Nigerians is not put in jeopardy, nor their decision made to be subservient to another party, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC). If they wanted to join the ruling party, they would have easily registered with them, with the numerous enticements that are usually concomitant with registering there.
“These Nigerians, in their millions, have heeded that time-tested spiritual injunction cautioning people against joining the broad pleasurable path that leads to destruction, admonishing instead that we use the narrow road which leads to emancipation.
“Today, by desperate manipulation and serpentine deceit, many political office holders have been cajoled, coerced and conned into joining the APC and abandoning the political platforms that saw them through to power.
“They have chosen to see political platforms as mere vehicles that convey them from their base to power, and when they arrive at their destination, they can alight at will and board another one that chauffeurs them around the seat of power. This digital membership registration has shown clearly that the politicians are defecting, not the electorate.
“Looking beyond the total, there is need to disaggregate this data to see what it says about critical demographics and other profound contexts. The average registration at the polling unit level is 24 members, while we have 484 as the average number of members in each of the 8,809 wards across the 774 Local Governments of Nigeria. Furthermore, male members stood at 2,336,069, outnumbering the females by a little above 9% (1,928,606).
“In terms of age, young people aged 18-40 constitute 40.3% of the entire registration, while people aged 41-60 years are 30.7%, and those from 61 years and above are 28.9%. This is clearly indicative of the acceptance of the party at all age levels, with young people outnumbering other age groups.
“When we look at the registration from a geographic perspective, the South-West is leading with 953,954 members, followed closely by the South-South with 917,652 members, trailed by the North-Central with 757,502 members. The North-West has 754,935 members, while the North-East has 646,305, and the South-East recorded 234,327 members.
“A deeper look reveals that Kaduna State had the highest registrants with 408,915 members, followed by Edo State with 378,033 members, trailed by Oyo State with 368,204 members. Ogun and Kano have 316,311 and 275,786 members respectively. On the slide presented, you will find a conscious attempt to highlight several nuanced interpretations of the data up to the LGA and ward levels.
“This show of confidence by these millions of Nigerians, as evidenced by their registration with our party, places on us, the leadership, a concomitant responsibility to protect and safeguard their future.
“They are dissatisfied with the current maladministration of the Tinubu APC-led Federal Government, where killings and insecurity have become the new normal for Nigerians. More painful is the fact that the President’s release on that issue came out more than 24 hours after the mass killings, whereas if it were a political matter, he would have expeditiously handled it.
“The APC knows that there are many Nigerians who are deeply disenchanted with their rudderless leadership and are only waiting for the ballot to teach them a lesson and send them out of power. This knowledge has made the APC paranoid, despite the uncountable power brokers in its party.
“Finally, we call on Nigerians of good conscience to ignore persons who are clearly agents and proxies of the APC, masquerading as PDP members, whereas they have already endorsed President Tinubu for a second term.
“The PDP is an opposition party and cannot and will not become an appendage of, or subservient to, the APC. Those who truly love and want to support the President should do well to leave other political parties and join the president’s party. Any political hybridization is impossible, especially with the PDP, as the umbrella and broom are not usually found together.”
