- Crisis may stall party’s presidential outing
There are growing concerns that the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party may rob it of the ability to field a presidential candidate in the 2027 general elections, Daily Sun can report.
Party insiders have said that the vacuum created by the recent Supreme Court judgment that dismissed all appeals and cross-appeals relating to the party’s leadership has left the PDP without any court-sanctioned leadership. This is due to the fact that the court ruling failed to recognise the party’s embattled National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, who is a close ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike and also the Ibadan Convention that had produced Taminu Turaki as the party’s chairman. With no recognised leadership, the party’s ability to conduct credible primaries and present a candidate for the presidency hangs in the balance.
In a bid to avert total collapse, the party’s Board of Trustees, chaired by Adolphus Wabara, recommended the creation of an Interim National Working Committee (INWC), which was subsequently approved at the party’s 103rd National Executive Council meeting in Abuja.
Turaki was named chairman of the 13-member committee, with Taofeek Arapaja as secretary. The committee was immediately inaugurated and handed a timetable for conducting primaries ahead of the 2027 polls.
However, political insiders warn that this emergency measure may not be enough to save the party as the INWC itself is vulnerable to legal challenges, and any aggrieved faction which heads to court as the Wike faction has done, the committee could be voided before it accomplishes its mandate.
A party chieftain told Daily Sun, “A party that cannot guarantee the stability of its own leadership structure will find it extremely difficult to organise and defend a presidential primary, let alone present a candidate that would mount a serious national campaign to unseat President Bola Tinubu.”
There is also the question of who will fly the PDP’s presidential flag. While Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is said to be nursing presidential ambitions and has been positioning himself behind the scenes, his plans are contingent on the party finding its footing.
Makinde had previously been approached by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to serve as his running mate on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) platform, though it remains unclear whether he accepted that offer. Insiders said he is still very much interested in the presidency, but without a stable and legally recognised party structure to back him, he would not realise his ambition.
Compounding the party’s troubles is Wike, who has already started endorsing aspirants for different positions. He has reportedly moved to endorse governorship aspirants in Rivers State from both the All Progressives Congress and the PDP. His two allies, Alabo George-Kelly and Kingsley Chinda, have been tipped to contest the Rivers governorship on the APC and PDP platforms, respectively.
An insider told the Daily Sun that for a party that once dominated the country’s politics, 2027 looks bleak. “Unless the PDP resolves its leadership crisis swiftly and keeps the Interim National Working Committee free from further court interference, its dream of winning the presidency will remain a dream,” the insider said.
