• Plans legal action to recover mandate from defectors
• Says Jonathan, Obi free to choose 2027 platforms
• Bode George slams PDP members supporting APC candidate

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, reaffirmed its readiness for its November 15-16 elective national convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, warning members who are engaged in anti-party activities that they risk suspension or outright expulsion.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, told journalists in Abuja that the party had completed all logistical, accommodation, and reception arrangements for the convention, which he noted would be the first in the party’s history to be held in the South-West.

The convention will be preceded by the inauguration of the zoning committee on Thursday, August 14, while the next National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, slated for August 25, will receive briefings from both the zoning and convention planning committees.
Ologunagba, while responding to whether the PDP was in talks with former President Goodluck Jonathan or Labour Party’s Peter Obi, said only the two men could speak for themselves.

He also spoke on the party’s efforts to retrieve mandates from defectors, particularly members of the National Assembly, saying that the party had already directed its National Legal Adviser to take appropriate action.

He added that some of the matters were already before the courts, saying: “If they are in court, they are in court; we cannot do self-help. We don’t have the capacity to seize a local council fund to coerce a governor to defect, and we won’t do that anyway. But we have taken the appropriate legal steps.”

Ologunagba said that what the PDP demands is “absolute 100 per cent loyalty.” He, therefore, urged aggrieved members to return, describing the PDP as “the only political party where they can achieve their goals and aspirations.”

On the lingering South-South zonal congress controversy, Ologunagba explained that the tenure of the zonal committee expired in March, after which the NEC appointed a caretaker committee headed by Emma Ogidi in line with the constitution.

MEANWHILE, former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Bode George, has warned members against supporting opposition presidential candidate while holding positions in the party, calling the act “totally unac