PDP declares resilience amid leadership crisis, blames APC for plot to weaken party

Politics

ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared renewed internal resilience and unity despite its ongoing leadership crisis, as its National Executive Committee (NEC) convened its 103rd meeting on Monday, May 4, 2026.

The meeting, convened with a two-thirds majority of NEC members in line with the party’s constitution, comes amid heightened legal and political tensions following a Supreme Court judgment on April 30, 2026, which nullified the 2025 PDP National Convention and effectively stripped the party of its National Working Committee (NWC).

Speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and Protem Chairman of the NEC, Sen. Adolphus Wabara, said the BoT assumed interim administrative leadership of the party to prevent a vacuum, citing constitutional provisions of the PDP (as amended in 2017).

He explained that the intervention became necessary after the apex court invalidated the convention that produced the Kabiru Turaki-led NWC, while also upholding suspensions of key figures linked to the disputed March 29–30 convention in Abuja, thereby rendering the exercise and its outcomes void.

Wabara thanked party leaders and members for their confidence in the BoT, describing the PDP as a resilient political institution capable of surviving what he called “seemingly impossible situations.” He also commended the suspended NWC leadership led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki SAN, alongside party staff, for their loyalty and dedication during the crisis period.

The BoT chairman further acknowledged governors, members of the National Assembly caucus, state chairmen, national ex-officio members, and other stakeholders for what he described as collective resistance against attempts to weaken or destabilise the party.

He alleged that the crisis within the PDP was being fuelled by coordinated political efforts aimed at weakening the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections, accusing the ruling Bola Tinubu–led All Progressives Congress (APC) of worsening national hardship and eroding public trust in governance.

According to him, there were deliberate attempts to destabilise the party through litigation, alleged manipulation of institutions, and disputed party activities, but insisted that such efforts would fail, stressing that the PDP “will never die.”

Wabara said Nigerians were increasingly looking to the PDP as an alternative platform capable of restoring national stability and addressing economic hardship, adding that public sentiment ahead of 2027 reflected growing expectations for the party’s return to power.

He maintained that despite internal challenges and external pressure, the PDP remains united in its mission to reposition itself as a leading force in Nigeria’s political landscape.