• PDP strong despite defections, says Fintiri, inspects convention venues
• Court reaffirms order maintaining status quo on PDP’s convention
• PDP’s crisis self-inflicted, says APC chieftain Okechukwu
• ADC: Mbah, Diri’s defection betrayal of public trust, drift to one-party state

As defections and legal disputes tear through the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) rallies its governors in quiet cohesion in Kebbi: a contrast that’s pushing Nigeria’s democracy closer to the edge of one-party dominance.

Several governors elected on the platform of the APC have arrived in Kebbi State ahead of a two-day meeting of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF).

Chairman of the North-Central Governors Forum and Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi A. Sule, and his Gombe State counterpart, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, were among those who departed Abuja yesterday for Birnin Kebbi to attend the session.

Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo; Delta State Governor, Sheriff F. O. Oborevwori; and Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, were also among the early arrivals at Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport, where they were received by Kebbi State officials led by the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Muhammad Samaila.

The closed-door meeting, holding at the Government House, Birnin Kebbi, will run for two days and is expected to bring together all governors elected on the APC platform.

This was as Chairman of the PDP 2025 National Convention Organising Committee and Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, yesterday expressed confidence in the strength and unity of the party despite recent defections of some governors and key members to the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The convention, scheduled to hold on November 15 and 16, is expected to consolidate the party’s structure and renew its internal cohesion ahead of the 2027 general election.

Speaking during an inspection of the proposed venue — the Lekan Salami Sports Complex and Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport in Ibadan — Fintiri reaffirmed that the PDP remains a formidable political institution capable of reclaiming power in 2027.

He said the convention would showcase the party’s resilience, internal democracy, and readiness to provide Nigerians with a credible alternative to the ruling APC.

Fintiri’s comments came as Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, reaffirmed that his order directing parties to maintain the status quo regarding the PDP National Convention remains in force and must not be violated.

The judge, who made the declaration yesterday, warned that no party should take any action capable of undermining the court’s authority or rendering its decision meaningless. He cautioned that he would issue consequential orders against any party that resorted to self-help.

Justice Omotosho’s remarks followed a complaint by one of the PDP’s lawyers, Chris Uche (SAN), who told the court that his client was being restrained by the subsisting order and requested an accelerated hearing of the suit.

The judge assured that the court would make every effort to deliver judgment before the end of October to allow all parties to know their positions ahead of the planned convention.

He emphasised that no one would be permitted to use delay tactics to frustrate the speedy determination of the case challenging the legality of the PDP’s planned national convention, scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Quoting the law, Justice Omotosho said: “Once a suit is filed in respect of any matter and parties have been served with processes, no party should take any step in respect of such a suit. The court must not be overreached, and where such is done, the court has power to issue consequential orders nullifying such acts. Let us respect the law. It is in our collective interest.”

He assured that judgment would be delivered before the end of October, adding: “On the day of judgment, parties will be given copies immediately. I type my own judgments myself, so there will be no delay.”

The judge has fixed Monday, October 20, for the definite hearing of the originating summons in the suit filed by three aggrieved PDP members: Imo State Chairman, Austin Nwachukwu; Abia State Chairman, Amah Abraham Nnanna; and South-South Secretary, Turnah Alabh George, against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and eight others.

He directed all parties to exchange their filed processes by October 17 to ensure a smooth hearing.

At the proceedings, PDP’s National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), maintained his position as the party’s legal representative, while Chris Uche (SAN) also announced his appearance for the PDP. Justice Omotosho ordered both lawyers to file their papers so the court could determine the party’s proper legal representation.

The plaintiffs are seeking to stop the planned PDP National Convention in Ibadan, where new national officers are expected to be elected. The defendants include INEC, the PDP, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, National Organising Secretary Umar Bature, the National Working Committee (NWC), the National Executive Committee (NEC), Acting National Chairman Umar Iliya Damagum, Ali Odefa, and Emmanuel Ogidi.

PDP’s crisis self-inflicted, says APC chieftain Okechukwu.

Meanwhile, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Osita Okechukwu, has urged the Peoples Democratic Party to stop “crying wolf after the horse has bolted”, insisting that the mass defections of its governors and key members were self-inflicted.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja yesterday, Okechukwu said the current wave of defections was a consequence of “impunity and disregard for internal democracy” within the PDP, which, he noted, had ignored several warnings from within.

He recalled that the South-East had consistently supported the PDP since 1999, even when its co-founder, Dr Alex Ekwueme, lost the party’s presidential primary in Jos. “The massive votes in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 demonstrated good deeds, which PDP paid with bad coins,” he said.

According to him, the PDP leadership must first accept responsibility for allowing “its horse of integrity and loyalty to principles” to bolt away during the 2023 presidential election before blaming others for its current troubles.

“As CNPP spokesman then, I warned the PDP to stop self-serving elders of the party, like Atiku Abubakar and cohorts, from breaching the zoning convention during the 2022 presidential primary,” he said. “Power-drunk, they plunged the PDP into this mess.”

Okechukwu argued that the “callous negligence” of the PDP Constitution had come back to haunt the party. “I am at a loss how the PDP leadership allowed Atiku, the foremost beneficiary of the zoning convention, to fly the party’s flag in 2023 when he had also benefited in 2019,” he said. “All the southern presidential aspirants obeyed the zoning convention in 2018 by refusing to participate in the Port Harcourt primary hosted by Nyesom Wike.”

He continued: “The chickens have come home to roost. Instead of confessing the grievous political sin committed in 2023, the PDP has shown neither moral contrition nor introspection. They assumed the northern electorate would join their impunity against the zoning convention—the glue that holds our fatherland together. But the sophisticated northern electorate rejected it; for them, Atiku is not Buhari, the Mai-Gaskiya.”

The APC chieftain blamed “those PDP leaders who supported Atiku to bury the soul of the party founded on integrity, unity and faith”, saying their actions triggered the ongoing implosion and mass defections.

He added: “Could there have been internal contradictions like Wike’s ‘Masquerade of Five Governors’ and Peter Obi’s Obidient Movement, both unintended consequences of breaching the zoning convention, if not for those power mongers?”

Okechukwu advised the PDP to stop blaming defected governors or the APC and instead “do a house-cleaning and start afresh.”

ADC: Mbah, Diri’s defection betrayal of public trust, drift towards one-party state.

Relatedly, the African Democratic Congress yesterday said it was unbothered by the defections of Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, and his Bayelsa counterpart, Duoye Diri, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, describing the move as “political treachery.”

In a statement issued in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the 2027 general election would be “between Nigerians and the governors who deserted them politically.”

Mbah formally joined the APC on Tuesday, while Diri, alongside members of the Bayelsa House of Assembly and the State Executive Council, announced their resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday.

Abdullahi said the defections confirmed the opposition’s fears that the country was gradually drifting towards a one-party state. He accused the two governors of pursuing personal ambitions rather than serving the interests of their citizens.

“Their decision to defect is a betrayal, joining those they once opposed and leaving citizens in disbelief,” he said. “They abandoned the people not for principle or progress, but for selfish gain and convenience.”

The ADC spokesman maintained that the party was not disturbed by the defections, adding that 2027 would be “a contest between citizens and the party to which these governors now belong.”

He urged other opposition governors to “rise boldly, deliver fresh ideas and lead citizens out of national despair,” stressing that Nigerians expected genuine leadership, not political opportunism.
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As the ruling party celebrates these defections, ADC and the opposition coalition celebrate a clearer divide between patriots seeking change and opportunists,” Abdullahi added.