Politics
PDP denies internal rift, says Nov. 15 convention on course
Nigeria’s main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected claims of discord among its ranks, insisting that arrangements for its upcoming national elective convention on November 15 remain undisturbed and progressing smoothly.
During a press briefing in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, emphasized that logistical efforts for the event are advancing without hitches.
“Let me be clear, the PDP convention will hold as planned. Every chapter is involved, our leaders across the country are working together, and preparations are on track. There is no threat to the process.
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“Our members should be rest assured that everything that needs to be done is being done and in a very seamless way.
“We are moving all over the country towards Ibadan. Indeed, the preparatory train is already in Ibadan,” he said.
Ologunagba further refuted rumors of rifts among members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), which arose after differing official communications were sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding state-level congresses in Cross River and Akwa Ibom.
He portrayed such apparent disputes as a natural aspect of internal deliberation, underscoring that the PDP operates through open discussions and adherence to its governing rules.
Leadership in the organization demands accountability, he noted, with the party’s bylaws outlining precise duties for officials.
He added that those entrusted with leadership roles must uphold a basic standard of dutiful conduct.
Section 35 of the PDP constitution delineates the national chairman’s responsibilities, including delegating tasks, convening and leading sessions of the National Executive Committee, the national caucus, and NWC gatherings.
“The national chairman provides overall leadership and can summon meetings, while the national secretary carries out administrative duties such as issuing notices and keeping records.
“The secretary cannot unilaterally call meetings or release statements without approval. Some of the confusion seen in public stems from either ignorance or deliberate mischief,” he said.
Regarding the Cross River state congress, Ologunagba clarified that the NWC had previously halted proceedings and instructed the South-South zonal Caretaker Committee to oversee local party operations.
In the case of Akwa Ibom’s PDP branch, he reiterated that firm resolutions have been established and remain binding, cautioning against any efforts by individuals to circumvent official directives.
“Our constitution does not allow anyone to belong to two parties at once, and we will not tolerate actions that undermine unity.
“The meeting that produced the party’s position was properly convened, with records and videos to prove it. Anyone claiming otherwise is misleading the public,” he said.
“In response to President Bola Tinubu’s recent Independence Day address, the PDP’s communications head labeled it as lackluster and detached from everyday struggles, such as soaring living expenses and persistent insecurity.”
He also called for full disclosure on how savings from the fuel subsidy elimination have been allocated.
Ologunagba critiqued the proposed N25,000 cash distributions as a superficial fix, contending that “handouts do not build an economy.”
Instead, he pushed for substantive policy shifts, like incentives for residential upgrades, which could boost manufacturing and employment opportunities, over short-term aid that risks entrenching hardship and reliance.
The PDP, he concluded, stands as the nation’s sole genuinely inclusive political entity poised to deliver the governance Nigerians deserve.
A conciliatory Atiku Abubakar, in magnanimity with victory, extended the olive branch to Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, the pair he defeated on Wednesday night to clinch the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for next year’s presidential election.
He appealed to both men never to abandon the party ahead of the election, scheduled for January 2027, but to close ranks to ensure victory for both party, Nigeria as a country and the people currently under the bondage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Extending the olive branch shortly after being handed the party flag, officially declaring him as the candidate, he said: “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Anechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country.
“As I said previously, there are no winners and no losers. Our people look up to us for leadership and I am ready to lead,” he said.
He added that he would work with other aspirants and stakeholders to build the party ahead of the general election.
“I shall work with you all to continue to build our party. I will campaign with you and if Nigeria’s leaders demand it, govern with you to build a country that works for all of us.”
The appeal is coming hours after both Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation and Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), rejected the result, even before it was announced, citing what they described as manipulation of the voting process, with Hayatu-Deen saying he would not attend the announcement of the result.
Regardless, Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he truly humbled and excited to lead the party into the next elections, adding that he was particularly excited by the party’s demonstration of internal democracy despite the position of naysayers.
Hear him: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.
“I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries. I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.
“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
For Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s 14th leader, and the third President since 1999, the road is now clear, should he be interested to make a comeback to reclaim the office he lost to the late President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
This is on the strength of a decision by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which hours ago, threw out a suit challenging the eligibility of the former President to make a go at the nation’s number one job, including that of 2027.
Peter Lifu, on Tuesday, held that JohnMary Jideobi, the plaintiff, who pursued the case of stopping the ex-President, lacked the legal right to have instituted the suit, having not suffered any loss from Jonathan’s perceived intention to vie in next year’s poll.
(AGF).
Lifu not only dismissed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, where Jideobi had prayed the court for an order restraining Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election, but slammed him with a N20 million fine to be paid in favour of the ex-president, and N1million fine against in favour of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
Against the backdrop of Jideobi’s argument was that Jonathan, having completed the tenure of the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later served a full term after the 2011 elections, he had exhausted the constitutional limit of two terms in office, Lifu described it as a waste of time.
He also dismissed the plea that the court should restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing Jonathan’s name as a candidate in the 2027 elections or any future presidential poll, insisting that the matter had earlier been litigated upon with a judicial pronouncement made on it.
Referring to the decision of a Federal High Court, Yenagoa which had previously dealt with a similar matter and the concurrence of the Court of Appeal, affirming Jonathan’s eligibility, Lifu, who earlier refused to recuse himself from the matter, said he was bound by both, dismissed the latest attempt as “an abuse of court process.”
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