Ahead of itsNational Elective Convention, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is embroiled in an internal power struggle between a group of influential figures, dubbed 'eminent personalities', led by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike,and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC). The convention is scheduled to hold in Ibadan, Oyo State, from November 15 to 16, 2025.

During a high-level stakeholders’ meeting at Wike’s Abuja residence, prominent PDP members including former Benue State Governor Dr. Samuel Ortom, ex-Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, former Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, and his Enugu counterpart Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, along with National Secretary Senator Sam Anyanwu, issued a six-point demand to the NWC. In a communique read by Dr. Ortom, the group warned that failure to meet these demands would render any purported national convention invalid, as legitimate members would be disenfranchised.

Photo Credit: Tribune Online

The specific demands put forth by Wike’s faction include: the urgent conduct of fresh congresses in Ebonyi and Anambra states, in strict compliance with subsisting court judgments; a new South-East Zonal Congress; respect for the outcome of the South-South Congress in Calabar, which has been upheld by courts; immediate conduct of the Ekiti LGA congresses in line with judicial pronouncements; no micro-zoning of offices beyond the general zoning formula adopted by the National Executive Committee (NEC)to maintain peace and stability; and the national chairmanship position must remain in the North-Central, consistent with the zoning arrangement of the 2021 convention.

The leaders emphasized that the PDP is at a “defining crossroads” and that unity cannot be built on exclusion or neglect of judicial rulings, stressing that only transparency and fairness would guarantee a credible convention. In response, the PDP leadership, including National Chairman Ambassador Umar Damagum, the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum Governor Bala Mohammedof Bauchi State, and theBoard of Trustees (BoT) of the party, took a firm stance.

Speaking at the inauguration of the 119-member National Convention Organising Committee,they declared that the November 15 National Elective Convention is “sacrosanct” and that no member, no matter how highly-placed, could take the party hostage.