Tension has intensified within the crisis-ridden Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as more than 3,000 delegates prepare to storm Ibadan, Oyo State, for the party’s national elective convention scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2025.
Sources reports that the convention, which should ordinarily be a unifying event, has instead become the epicentre of a fierce power struggle between two entrenched factions.
The camp led by the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, enjoys the support of key structures within the party, including:
The PDP Governors Forum,
The Board of Trustees, and
The Forum of State Chairmen.
This group maintains that the Ibadan convention will proceed as planned and is pressing ahead with preparations.
On the other side is the faction led by Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, which, though numerically smaller, is wielding significant political influence.
Wike’s group stunned the party two weeks ago by electing its own national chairman and openly daring the PDP governors.
The faction insists that the Ibadan convention is illegal and will not stand.
The internal crisis escalated after Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court restrained the PDP from holding the convention and barred INEC from monitoring it, ruling that the party failed to properly notify the commission as required by its constitution.
Following the judgment, the Damagum-led NWC imposed a one-month suspension on three national officers for alleged anti-party activities:
National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu,
National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, and
National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature.
Within 24 hours, the suspended officers convened their own meeting in Abuja, announcing the suspension of Damagum and the entire NWC.
They also appointed the PDP Deputy National Vice Chairman (North Central), Abdulrahman Mohammed, as the new acting National Chairman.
