The internal crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) escalated yesterday as key political figures including the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose; and suspended national secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu rejected their expulsion, dismissing the party’s elective national convention in Ibadan as a “constitutional farce” and a mere jamboree.
The leaders were expelled over alleged anti-party activities during the convention held at the Lekan Salami Stadium, where Ambassador Umaru Damagum was ratified as the party’s substantive national chairman.
Also expelled were former national legal adviser Kamaldeen Adeyemi Ajibade, SAN; Senator Mao Ohuabunwa; George Turner; and Hon. Umar Bature. Their expulsion motion was moved by former PDP deputy national chairman (South), Chief Olabode George, who accused them of working to undermine the party.
Reacting swiftly, the affected leaders dismissed the process as illegitimate.
Wike’s aide, Lere Olayinka, mocked the Ibadan gathering, describing it as mere social merrymaking. “They went to Ibadan to start their own dirty December in November,” he said.
Sena1tor Anyanwu also rejected the expulsion, arguing that a court had earlier nullified his suspension by the Damagum-led National Working Committee. He insisted the convention was invalid because officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were absent.
Meanwhile, Adamawa State governor and chairman of the 2025 Convention Committee, Ahmadu Fintiri, distanced himself from the expulsions, warning that the move could worsen the PDP’s already fragile unity. He stressed that he would not support any action capable of deepening the party’s crisis.
INEC’s absence from the November 15–16 convention further complicated matters. Convention planning committee chairman, Governor Dauda Lawal, told delegates that several agenda items could not proceed without the commission’s presence an absence linked to a series of court orders.
Despite the setbacks, delegates confirmed Damagum’s position as national chairman, citing Section 32 of the PDP constitution.
The event, however, exposed widening fissures within the party. Only four governors Bala Mohammed, Dauda Lawal, Ahmadu Fintiri, and host Seyi Makinde attended. Governors Ademola Adeleke, Siminalayi Fubara, and Agbu Kefas were absent, as was former governor Sule Lamido.
The PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) also disowned a leaked reconciliation report suggesting the establishment of a caretaker committee, with BoT chairman Senator Adolphus Wabara warning against attempts to subvert due process.
Adding to the unrest, the Kebbi State chapter boycotted the convention in protest over the clearance of former minister Kabiru Tanimu Turaki for chairmanship despite alleged legal issues.
Meanwhile, the convention dissolved the party’s structures in Imo, Abia, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers States. The motion, moved by Governor Makinde, dissolved all ward, local government, and state executives in the affected states.
With Damagum’s ratification settled but factions hardening, the party faces a critical test as it navigates internal conflicts, legal disputes, and widening divisions raising questions about whether the PDP is heading toward renewal or deeper fragmentation ahead of 2027.
