From Rotimi Agboluaje, Ibadan
• Dare Wike, declare support for Fubara
Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under the aegis of the PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF), have declared that the party will not join any coalition or merger but would welcome any party or persons willing to join it or work with it to take power and enthrone good leadership in the country.
The governors, in a communiqué read at the end of their two-day meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State, which ended yesterday, maintained that the party would resolve all its issues before 2027.
PDPGF declared that, in conjunction with the National Working Committee (NWC) and other relevant organs of the party, it had been resolved that the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party would hold on May 27.
It constituted a Zoning Committee to address issues related to the zoning of party offices, as well as a National Convention Committee, subject to ratification by the NWC and NEC, as it prepares to hold an early convention in August 2025.
In alignment with an earlier position taken in Asaba, Delta State, on the issue of National Secretary, the forum recommended that the Deputy Secretary remains as National Secretary pending the nomination and ratification of a substantive National Secretary from the South East zone.
Daring Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister and former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, the governors equally reiterated their condemnation of the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers, through a state of emergency declaration by President Bola Tinubu, stating that they would stand with the embattled governor till the end, having approached the Supreme Court for interpretation on the provisions of the Constitution on state of emergency.
Wike, last year, threatened to put fire in states whose governors support Fubara, who dared challenge his (Wike) control of the oil-rich state. They decried the worsening insecurity in the country, sympathising with the government and people of Plateau State over wanton killings visited on the state recently, while also calling for a reordering of strategies that would allow the development of a bottom-up template to enable sub-nationals to constitute an effective line of defence against security breaches.
The Zoning Committee will be led by Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, with Governors Dauda Lawal of Zamfara and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State serving as Vice Chairman and Secretary, respectively.
The National Convention Committee will be headed by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, with Governors Ademola Adeleke (Osun) and Peter Mbah (Enugu) as Vice Chairman and Secretary, respectively.
Earlier, the host, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, had declared that PDP would resolve its internal wrangling ahead of the 2027 general elections and form the next government at the federal level.
During the gala night at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, to welcome his colleagues in the PDPGF to Ibadan on Sunday, Makinde appreciated them for their commitment to the party.
He said all the organs of the party that attended the Ibadan meeting signified that the party leaders and members remained committed and that the party would go in the right direction.
Delivering the resolution passed at the end of a closed-door meeting, the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, said: “The forum reasserts its collective determination to avert a rape constitutional democracy; hence, the decision of approaching the Supreme Court to give a clear-cut interpretation on the provisions of the Constitution on the declaration of State of Emergency.
“It restates its solidarity with Fubara on the ordeal into which his state and people are being subjected by the declaration of emergency. We reiterate the commitment to stand with him till the end.”
