ANALYSIS: 2025: The year PDP, Africa’s former ‘largest party’, unravelled

At its peak, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described itself as the largest party in Africa and boasted that it would rule Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy, for 60 years. However, the year 2025 appears to be the year the party unravelled into what it may never recover from.

The PDP, Nigeria’s former ruling party, faced an internal crisis in 2025 that nearly pushed it to the brink of collapse, or ‘convulsion point,’ as described by party spokesperson Ini Ememobong, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Although it has remained the country’s main opposition since losing power in 2015, the scale of internal divisions and external pressures it faced last year showed its struggle for survival.

Despite building nationwide relevance across regions and socio-economic groups during its 16 years in power, analysts argue that 2025 was the PDP’s most turbulent period since leaving power at the centre.

Factional disputes, mass defections, disciplinary actions and a deeply fractured national convention combined to weaken party unity, strain leadership structures and threaten its credibility ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The state of the party is a hangover from its previous crises, including the crisis that trailed its presidential primaries in 2015 and 2023.

Mass defection to the ruling party

One of the most significant blows to the PDP in 2025 was the wave of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by key party leaders, including governors and lawmakers at both federal and state levels.

At the start of 2025, the PDP controlled 11 governorship seats. By the end of the year, six governors had defected, leaving the party with only five. One more has left this year, and more could join.

Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was the first to defect, announcing his move alongside his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, the PDP’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general election. The entire PDP structure in the state followed suit, referencing the party’s declining viability and arguing that alignment with the ruling party would better serve Delta State. defected

In June 2025, Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno formally defected after months of speculation. He said the move was necessary to align the state with the APC-led federal government.

In October, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah also crossed over to the APC, referencing the need to better position his state for development through stronger cooperation with the federal government. Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri followed in the same month, blaming the PDP’s waning relevance and internal instability.

In December, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke resigned from the PDP to join the Accord Party, where he declared his intention to seek a second term in office. Shortly afterwards, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara also resigned his membership of the PDP and joined the APC.

Two other governors, Agbu Kefas of Taraba State and Caleb Mutfwang, commenced the process of defection in 2025. Mr Muftwang formally joined the APC on 2 January 2026.

Beyond the governors, defections spread rapidly among federal and state lawmakers. Many legislators followed their governors to the ruling party. In the Senate, PDP representation declined from 36 members at the inauguration in June 2023 to 23 by the end of 2025.

A similar pattern emerged in the House of Representatives, where the party lost several members to the APC.

Besides, during the year under review, some prominent PDP members also dumped the party. They include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President David Mark.

One common reason given by lawmakers for abandoning the PDP is the intractable crisis within the once-governing party of Nigeria, which described itself as the largest party in Africa.

Convention amid conflicting court orders

The PDP national convention, held from 15 to 16 November 2025 in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, further exposed the depth of the party’s crisis. The event, intended to reorganise the party’s leadership and reposition it for the 2027 elections, was marred by legal battles and conflicting court orders.

In October, James Omotosho, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, issued an order halting the convention. This was followed by another ruling by Donatus Okorowo, also of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a suit filed by a former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise the convention.

Just hours before the convention, Peter Lifu, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, issued yet another order restraining the party from proceeding with the event.

Despite these rulings, the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC), chaired by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, went ahead with the convention, which produced Kabiru Turaki, a senior lawyer and former Nigerian minister of special duty, as the PDP’s national chairman.

Among the 20-member leadership elected at the convention organised by the party’s NWC, led by Umar Damagum, were Hamza Koshe (deputy national chairman, north); Daniel Woye (deputy national chairman, south); Taofeek Arapaja (national secretary); Richard Ihediwa (deputy national secretary); and Isaac Abubakar (national treasurer).

Others were Theophilus Shan (national organising secretary); Ini Ememobong (national publicity secretary); Aribisala Idowu (national auditor); Badaru Shafi’l (national legal adviser); Ogbu Chinenyenwa (national women’s leader); and Umar Aji (national youth leader).

The convention committee relied on the 4 November ruling of A. L. Akintola, a judge of the Oyo State High Court. The judge ordered the PDP to proceed with the event.

Disciplinary actions and expulsions

A major occurrence at the convention was the expulsion of some prominent party members over alleged anti-party activities.

Those expelled included the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose; the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade; the National Organising Secretary, Umaru Bature, as well as a former senator, Mao Ohuabunwa, and a former national vice chairman of the party in the South-south, Dan Orbih.

Others are Mohammed Abdulrahman, the factional chairman aligned with Mr Wike’s camp. Three of Mr Wike’s allies, who challenged the holding of the convention in court, arguing that state congresses were not conducted in accordance with the PDP Constitution, were also expelled. They are Imo PDP Chairman, Austine Nwachukwu, Abia PDP Chairman, Amah Nnanna, and PDP South-south Zonal Secretary, Turnah George.

The expulsions further deepened internal divisions and triggered fresh legal and political confrontations within the party.

Factionalism and leadership battles in the PDP

Factionalism within the PDP reached alarming levels in 2025, with two dominant blocs emerging, one aligned with Mr Wike, who, though a member of the party, is serving in the APC-led federal government, and the other with Mr Turaki.

Ahead of the convention, tensions escalated to the point where rival factions issued suspensions against one another. The Wike-backed faction, led by Mr Anyanwu, appointed Mr Abdulrahman as its acting national chairman, while the opposing faction recognised Mr Damagum as chairman. Mr Damagum had been affirmed as substantive national chairman earlier in August by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the opposition party.

The crisis largely originated from disagreements over the conduct of congresses and the legality of the convention, with Mr Wike’s loyalists insisting that the party violated its constitution.

Sealing the party’s national secretariat

The crisis peaked in November when the police sealed the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja. The building was sealed shortly after the Turaki-led leadership convened its inaugural National Working Committee (NWC) meeting.

The action followed confrontations between members of the Wike faction and the Turaki-led executives, further showing the deepening institutional breakdown within Nigeria’s main opposition party.

It is unclear when the once-ruling PDP will emerge from its leadership crisis, as the dispute over legitimacy between the two factions has continued into the new year.

Sadly, just before the close of 2025, INEC ruled that it would not recognise any of the factions due to various court judgements on the crisis.

Already, the party has begun paying the price with the electoral body’s refusal to list its candidate, Wole Oluyede, as one of the contenders in the forthcoming Ekiti governorship poll. Many such scenarios may emerge.

Analysts say the consequences may affect its preparation and outing in the 2027 polls. With the recent allegation by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State that Mr Wike pledged to hold the PDP down for the benefit of APC’s President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election, the future, at least the nearest future, appears bleak for the party, whose leaders had boasted that it would rule Africa’s most populous country for 60 years.

PDP speaks

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, told PREMIUM TIMES that the challenges confronting the party in 2025 were the culmination of internal problems that had persisted since it lost power in 2015.

“The lessons have been learnt. What actually happened in 2025 was an accumulation of the things that had happened from 2015 down, just that in 2025 it got to convulsion point. But I can assure you that we’re heading up,” Mr Ememobong said.

Addressing concerns over the legitimacy of the party’s national convention, the spokesperson said the matter is now before the Court of Appeal and that the party is awaiting judicial clarification on the outcome of the exercise.

“As much as there were judgements against convention, there were court orders directing that the convention should hold. But all of that are issues before the Court of Appeal,” he added.

On the party’s readiness for the 2027 general elections, Mr Ememobong said the PDP would intensify its political activities once the legal disputes surrounding the convention are resolved.

“That is why we’re on the rebel and rebound mission, that is why you see us doing consultation day and night. Immediately we’re out of the Court of Appeal, you’re going to see a lot of things happening.”

Darkest year for PDP

Ifeanyi Odili, president of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), described 2025 as one of the darkest periods in the PDP’s recent history, saying the scale of internal dislocation the party experienced was unprecedented.

“2025 was a brutal year for the PDP, marking a major low point in the party’s recent history. Internal conflicts, leadership trolls, and mass defections have left the party controlling just four states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Oyo, and Zamfara. That’s a huge drop from 2011, when they had the presidency and 25 states. The party’s collapse has been dramatic, with many of its key figures jumping ship,” Mr Odili said.

He argued that the exit of influential governors fundamentally weakened the party’s political machinery and diminished its relevance on the national stage.

Mr Odili noted that the party’s prolonged inability to resolve internal disputes and enforce discipline had cost it credibility among its members and supporters.

He rejected suggestions that the wave of defections was driven solely by political opportunism, arguing instead that it exposed deeper structural decay within the party.

He warned that the consequences of the PDP’s decline could extend beyond the party itself, potentially reshaping Nigeria’s political landscape.