KEY POINTS

• The PDP says its national convention in Ibadan will proceed despite objections from suspended and factional leaders.
• Governor Fintiri and party organs insist there is no court order halting the event, stressing unity and legal clarity.
• BoT Chairman Wabara warns against conflicting court rulings and urges reconciliation as the party readies for 2027 and beyond.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has confirmed that its national convention scheduled for this weekend in Ibadan will hold as planned, brushing aside attempts by rival factions to derail preparations and insisting the party remains united on its course.

The declaration was made in Abuja on Thursday by the Chairman of the Convention Organising Committee, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State, following a strategy meeting that drew in governors, members of the National Working Committee, the Board of Trustees and other senior figures.

Fintiri said the party was not prepared to be thrown off balance by statements circulating from suspended or factional officers who have urged members to boycott the event. According to him, the party’s position was settled long before Thursday’s meeting, and the build-up to the convention was already too far along to be halted by internal quarrels.

The pushback was in response to a joint statement issued earlier by the suspended National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and a factional National Chairman, Abdurahman Mohammed.

According to the Voice of Nigeria, they had claimed a subsisting Federal High Court order prevented the party from organising the convention or allowed the electoral commission to supervise it. Party leaders at the meeting dismissed the claim, saying the order was being misinterpreted and that the party had received enough legal clarity to proceed.

Leadership urges focus as reconciliation pushes stall internal rifts

Before the convention committee briefing, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, received the report of the reconciliation committee and expressed cautious optimism that the PDP would weather its problems.

He did not downplay the seriousness of the disputes, describing them as self-inflicted wounds, but argued they were far from fatal. He insisted that only a clear and final ruling from the courts could alter the timetable for the Ibadan gathering.

Wabara also warned about the growing pattern of conflicting judicial orders issued by courts of coordinate jurisdiction, saying the practice undermined the hierarchy of the judiciary and left political parties vulnerable to manipulation. He urged all involved to remember the role of the Supreme Court in guiding lower courts and preventing what he called legal disorder.

Responding to concerns that the Board of Trustees had intervened too late, Wabara explained that the board had been mediating quietly for months, but did not have the financial or institutional weight to enforce decisions without support from the party’s more powerful organs.

He described much of the turmoil as driven by personal political ambitions, including efforts by some actors to weaken the party now in anticipation of reshaping its leadership landscape before the 2031 cycle.

The veteran politician maintained that, for all the disagreements, every bloc within the party recognised the importance of a stable PDP in Nigeria’s democratic system. He said the convention in Ibadan should serve as a platform for renewal and for repositioning the opposition ahead of its next major electoral battles.

With the governors, the National Working Committee and the Board of Trustees broadly aligned, preparations for the weekend convention are continuing without interruption. The party says it expects delegates from across the country to arrive in Ibadan from Friday, with hopes that the gathering may calm weeks of agitation and signal a more settled phase for the opposition party.