PDP: After S-Court blow, leaders fix emergency NEC meeting

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aligned with Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has fixed an emergency meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) for Monday, moving swiftly to stabilise the party after a Supreme Court ruling dismantled its National Working Committee (NWC).

The decision highlights the urgency within Nigeria’s main opposition party to restore leadership, reassert control and prevent a deeper rupture after the court verdict effectively reset its structure.

The factional Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara, spoke on Sunday at the opening of the party’s 84th BoT meeting in Abuja, outlining the immediate steps taken and the road ahead.

Wabara said: “Following the judgment of the Supreme Court on Thursday, April 30, 2026, which stripped our party of a National Working Committee, the Board immediately assumed administrative leadership of the party in line with the empowering provisions of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).

“This immediate intervention averted a leadership vacuum in the aftermath of the judgment of the Supreme Court, which annulled the 2025 National Convention that produced the Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee, as well as upheld the suspension of key conveners of the March 29–30 contentious convention in Abuja, thereby also invalidating that exercise and nullifying its outcome.”

Since stepping in, the BoT says it has received a wave of solidarity messages; a signal, it believes, that the party’s support base remains intact despite the upheaval.

“These messages not only reinforce the fact that Nigerians are with us, as always, but also strengthen our courage, resolve and determination to overcome the hurdles and lead the charge to rescue our nation from the claws of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections,” he said.

Wabara also acknowledged the dissolved NWC, crediting its members with loyalty and resilience under pressure.

“They demonstrated uncommon resilience, courage and an undaunted fighting spirit, for which the PDP remains proud of them,” he added.

He then traced the roots of the crisis to internal disputes that escalated ahead of the party’s 2025 national convention, including a legal challenge filed shortly before the exercise.

Wabara said: “On October 4, 2025, precisely 42 days before our scheduled convention, some mischief-makers, in collusion with the suspended former National Secretary, National Legal Adviser and National Organising Secretary, and apparently working in cahoots with enemies of the PDP, secretly instituted a case against our party to stop the holding of the convention.

“These actors kept the case away from the National Working Committee in a bid to surreptitiously secure judgment against the party.”

The court ruling that followed, delivered barely weeks to the convention, triggered the suspension of three key officers, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court.

“In that judgment, the Supreme Court declared that during a period of suspension, a suspended officer ceases to be an officer of the party and can no longer carry out any official duties, either as a suspended member or officer,” he said.

Actions taken during that period, including the appointment of an acting national chairman and the conduct of the Abuja convention, were consequently voided by the apex court.

“The judgment of the Supreme Court therefore rendered the Abuja convention, as convened by Abdulrahman Mohammed and Anyanwu as Acting Chairman and National Secretary respectively, a nullity. From that point, the rest is history,” Wabara said.

Framing the crisis in broader political terms, he alleged that forces within and outside the party had worked to weaken it ahead of the next elections.

“I have taken us through this sequence for us to appreciate the severe internal sabotage allegedly perpetrated by some individuals working for the APC with the aim of crippling our party ahead of the 2027 general elections,” Wabara said.

Despite the turmoil, he insisted the PDP remains intact and capable of recovery.

“The PDP will not surrender to renegades and political brigands. We must stand firm and resist all machinations from individuals and institutions set against us. We have weathered the storm, we have confounded the naysayers, and a brighter day lies ahead,” Wabara said.

He confirmed that the party has secured the required backing of NEC members to convene Monday’s meeting, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) duly notified.

The former Senate President said: “I am pleased to inform Nigerians that our party has already secured the statutorily required consent of two-thirds of the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to convene the 103rd NEC meeting tomorrow, Monday, May 4, 2026, and INEC has also been duly notified.

“We must, as the conscience of our party, take steps to foster unity, genuine reconciliation, and emerge with the clear direction needed to stabilise, strengthen and energise our party for the task ahead.”

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