The internal crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) worsened over the weekend as several key stakeholders rejected the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State. Party leaders from Abia, Rivers, Jigawa, and the South-South zone dismissed the gathering as illegal, defective, and conducted in violation of multiple court orders.
The Ibadan convention, which produced new national officers and reportedly dissolved some state executives, has now become a major point of dispute, with several factions threatening legal action and insisting that the event has no legitimacy. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not attend the convention, citing unresolved legal issues — a decision that strengthened the position of those calling the event unconstitutional.
In Abia State, the PDP chairman, Alwell Asiforo Amah, openly rejected the convention, describing it as unlawful, defective, and held in clear disregard of ongoing court cases.
“We have a matter in court and it has moved to the Appeal Court. So, it is against the spirit of the law and the constitution for them to go ahead to do what they had done. We are not part of what they have done,” Amah said.
He disputed claims that Abia State fully participated in the Ibadan gathering, insisting that only a small number of party members attended. According to him, out of the 17 local government chairmen, only four were present, while 13 stayed away. Similarly, from the 14 members of the state working committee, just five attended.
Amah also faulted the dissolution of the Abia and Imo State executive committees at the convention, calling the decision a major procedural error.
“They went ahead to dissolve Abia and Imo executives, and now they are calling them to come and vote, which is a blunder. By dissolving the state, they don’t have the right to vote,” he added.
The South-South PDP leadership also rejected the Ibadan convention, describing it as a mere social event without the legal authority of a party convention.
The zone’s Secretary, Mr. Turner, said the gathering did not meet the constitutional requirements of the PDP.
“There is no PDP convention anywhere. You heard the chairman of the social gathering in Ibadan, Fintiri, where he announced that INEC was not there. So, it is not a convention of the PDP. When the PDP is ready with their convention, everybody will know.”
Also reacting, the acting Publicity Secretary of the South-South PDP, Enyinnaya Appolos, described the exercise as “ill-fated” and conducted “in clear defiance of due process and judicial pronouncements.”
In a statement sent to Sunday Punch, Appolos condemned the organisers for ignoring two subsisting Federal High Court judgments, while hiding behind what he termed “an ineffectual ex parte order which, in law and in fact, cannot override valid and extant court decisions.”
He said that the absence of INEC officials made the entire process “procedurally defective and legally unsustainable,” adding that no genuine convention should be held while state congresses remain unresolved and while valid court orders prohibit such gatherings.
“It is evident that every business purportedly transacted at this gathering cannot stand the test of time, nor withstand judicial scrutiny,” Appolos said, urging members to remain calm as the matter proceeds to the Court of Appeal.
The Jigawa State chapter of the PDP also distanced itself from the Ibadan convention, warning that individuals claiming to represent the state as delegates were impostors.
The state chairman, Dr. Babandi Ibrahim Gumel, issued a statement saying no legitimate delegate from Jigawa attended the event.
“I just learnt that some people are claiming to be elected delegates representing Jigawa in the ongoing factional and purported convention of the PDP in Ibadan. The Jigawa State chapter of the PDP is not participating in the convention, in compliance with the Federal High Court judgement restoring the rights of our leader, His Excellency, Sule Lamido, to participate in the process to contest the chairmanship of our party.”
Gumel added that the worsening internal crisis was the result of poor leadership and mismanagement of party affairs. Despite the disagreements, he said the Jigawa PDP remained open to genuine reconciliation efforts.
“Any person claiming to be a delegate from Jigawa State is a fraudster,” he stressed.
The PDP in Rivers State also dismissed the Ibadan convention, describing it as illegal and unconstitutional. The party’s Publicity Secretary, Kenneth Yowika, issued a statement praising INEC for refusing to attend the event.
According to the Rivers PDP, INEC’s absence was a clear sign that the electoral body respected the rule of law. The party said INEC acted correctly by obeying two Federal High Court judgments that barred the PDP from holding the convention.
However, a High Court in Ibadan had issued a ruling allowing the event to proceed, creating a conflict that worsened the party’s internal divisions.
Yowika said the PDP’s decision to go ahead with the convention despite the legal uncertainty showed a disregard for due process, adding that “the ill-advised convention cannot withstand legal scrutiny as it is already sub judice at the Court of Appeal.”
The party urged its members to remain calm and trust the judicial process.
The fierce reactions from multiple state chapters reflect a deepening crisis within the PDP. The party, once Nigeria’s major political force that ruled the country for 16 straight years, has struggled with internal divisions since losing power in 2015.
Factional disputes, conflicting court orders, leadership struggles, and parallel conventions have weakened the party’s national structure. The Ibadan convention appears to have intensified these tensions rather than resolve them.
