By Olatunbosun Obafemi
Tensions within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have escalated ahead of its National Elective Convention scheduled for November in Ibadan, Oyo State, as the camp loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has openly rejected the Southern Leaders’ Zoning Consultative meeting held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The Lagos parley, organised by the party’s 44-member zoning committee chaired by Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, was part of ongoing consultations across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. The committee, inaugurated on August 14, is tasked with recommending how the party’s 19 National Working Committee (NWC) positions should be shared between the North and South. Its report will be presented to the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) during its 102nd meeting on Monday in Abuja.
But just hours before the Lagos meeting commenced, key party stakeholders, including state chairmen from Rivers, Imo, Abia, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states, as well as National Assembly leaders and former governors, issued a statement distancing themselves from the gathering.
The group, largely aligned with Wike, dismissed the exercise as “illegal and divisive,” accusing the organisers of convening the meeting without proper consultation and deliberately excluding several critical stakeholders.
“The attention of the undersigned state chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party from the South and some critical stakeholders has been drawn to a meeting ‘Nicodemously’ summoned in Lagos today, 21st August 2025,” the statement read. “For the avoidance of doubt, we categorically dismiss any resolutions, communiqués, or outcomes purportedly emanating from this meeting as neither binding on, nor reflective of the collective will and aspirations of the PDP family across Southern Nigeria.”
The statement further criticised the meeting’s conveners for failing to invite several state chairmen, national officers, and principal lawmakers from the South-East and South-South, including the party’s duly elected National Secretary and Deputy National Legal Adviser.
“It is deeply disturbing that such a meeting was convened without courtesy to invite critical stakeholders,” the signatories said. “Such brazen disregard for established structures and statutory organs of the PDP not only offends the spirit of collective decision-making but also risks undermining the very foundation upon which our party was built.”
Those who signed the document included Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, O. K. Chinda; Senators Mao Ohuabunwa, George Sekibo, and Mike Nnachi; as well as former National Secretary Onwe S. Onwe. They warned that recognising the Lagos summit’s outcomes would only serve the “selfish ambitions of a few” and vowed to resist it with “full force.”
This rejection underscores deepening divisions within the PDP, particularly over leadership and zoning arrangements in the South-South and South-East. Wike’s loyalists are reportedly determined to stall the November convention until these disputes are resolved, while governors loyal to Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, insist the event will go ahead as planned.
Speaking after the Lagos meeting, Makinde dismissed Wike’s camp’s objections, saying the gathering was a step toward strengthening the PDP and uniting it for the 2027 elections.
“Personally, when people go low or go into the gutters, I don’t go with them,” Makinde said. “Some people are now going into the gutters. We will reach out to them. That is democracy. I can disagree with people, but it should not be personal. It should be about what we are giving to Nigerians because they are watching.”
Makinde also highlighted the PDP’s resilience despite internal challenges, pointing to recent elections where the party performed strongly in several states. “In all our states, they showed last Saturday that the PDP is not dead. In most other places, the PDP came second. If we continue to work hard, we can reclaim the confidence of Nigerians,” he said.
Responding to questions about zoning the PDP presidential ticket to the South, the governor clarified that such discussions were premature. “We haven’t even got there. We need to have a party first before you start talking about presidential candidates. Our efforts right now are directed towards having a vibrant and united PDP that Nigerians will be proud of and believe in again,” he said.
The Lagos consultative meeting drew several influential figures, including the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara; Governors Ademola Adeleke of Osun and Diri of Bayelsa; Enugu Deputy Governor, Ifeanyi Ossai, who represented Governor Peter Mbah; as well as elder statesmen such as former Osun Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and PDP chieftain Bode George.
Despite the boycott, organisers said the talks were constructive and necessary to produce a fair zoning arrangement ahead of the Ibadan convention.
Meanwhile, the PDP Governors’ Forum is scheduled to meet in Gusau, Zamfara State, this Saturday. According to a source within the party’s National Working Committee, governors are expected to arrive Friday evening before holding closed-door deliberations the following day on zoning and other pressing matters critical to the November convention’s success.
The Zamfara meeting, coupled with Monday’s NEC session, will be decisive in shaping the PDP’s future trajectory as the party struggles to balance internal divisions with the urgent need to present a united front ahead of national elections.
For now, the standoff between Wike’s loyalists and Makinde’s bloc underscores the fragility of the PDP’s cohesion – and the difficult path ahead in reconciling warring factions before the Ibadan convention.
