By Omezia Ajayi & Luminous Jannamike, ABUJA
In the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the gloves are off. The two main camps in the PDP are set for a battle for the soul of the party before the November National Convention, fixed to hold in Ibadan, Oyo State.
A camp of the PDP, led by Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, after a late-night meeting on Monday, cited court orders and issued a six-point demand that the party hierarchy, the National Working Committee, NWC, must meet before the national convention.
In a quick counter, the party, has taken a hardline stance against former Governors Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) over their six-point ultimatum. The party declared that it will neither be blackmailed nor hijacked.
The clash came to a head in Abuja yesterday at the inauguration of the 2025 National Convention Organising Committee (main committee), where PDP National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum; Bauchi State governor and chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Bala Mohammed; Chairman of the Convention Committee and Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri; and former Senate President and Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, represented by former Kaduna governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, openly confronted the threats to the party’s cohesion.
Six demands by Wike’s camp
Wike and his allies had demanded:
*Fresh congresses in Ebonyi and Anambra states, in line with court rulings;
*A new South-East zonal congress;
*Immediate conduct of Ekiti LGA congresses;
*Respect for South-South congresses’ outcome upheld by the courts;
*An end to micro-zoning beyond the NEC’s approved formula; and,
*Retention of the national chairmanship position in the North Central.
They warned that failure to comply with these demands would render the forthcoming convention invalid.
PDP govs’re not cowards, not afraid of anybody – Mohammed
However, Bala Mohammed was blunt in his response. He warned that PDP governors will not allow the party to be dragged into self-destruction.
“We are not cowards; we are not afraid of anybody. But we cannot continue to keep quiet and allow people to take us to the slaughterhouse. That is their job. Our job is to make sure we don’t go to the slaughterhouse. We will not allow it.
“Accommodation does not mean stupidity. If anybody wants to form a faction of fools, we will allow him to go and do so.
“We are working with the National Working Committee to ensure discipline is maintained. PDP is the only party that has remained consistent since 1999. And we will not allow anybody to take it for granted. Enough is enough,” he declared, sending a direct shot at Wike and his camp.
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