Ibadan national convention sacrosanct

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the conduct of its national convention on Saturday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, is sacrosanct.

The Chairman, 2025 National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC), Governor Umar Fintiri of Adamawa State, stated this while addressing journalists after the party’s stakeholders meeting in Abuja.

The stakeholders who attended the meeting included members of the PDP Governors’ Forum, National Working Committee (NWC), and Board of Trustees, among others.

“We’ve just come out of our critical stakeholders meeting, where a lot of elaborate decisions were taken.

“I want to tell you here that we are going to Ibadan for our convention and the convention is sacrosanct,” Mr Fintiri said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting took place at the Bauchi State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja.

Some of the stakeholders sighted at the meeting were Governors Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, PDP National Chairman, Umar Damagum, National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Others are former Minister, Tanimu Turaki, who is the consensus candidate for the position of national chairman at the convention.

Also at the meeting were the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Chairman, PDP South-south Caretaker committee, Emmanuel Ogidi, among others.

Confusion

There has been confusion over the possibility of the party going ahead with the convention following conflicting court judgements on the exercise.

In the last few days, two groups of members of the party have placed advertisements in the media, with one saying that the convention has been cancelled while the other insisted the exercise would go ahead as planned.

While the faction led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, the party’s national vice chairman, North-central, said the convention would no longer hold on account of two court judgements stopping the exercise, the National Working Committee led by Umar Damagum, said it would hold.

The Mohammed-led group is loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, a member of the PDP, serving in the APC federal administration of President Bola Tinubu, and the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.

Some members of the group, including the PDP chairmen in Imo and Abia states, had sued the party over the inappropriateness of holding the convention.

In his 31 October judgement, James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, stopped the convention and asked INEC not to monitor, supervise, or recognise it.

READ ALSO: PDP Crisis: Saraki asks Damagun’s faction to suspend convention, constitute caretaker committee

On 4 November, an Oyo High Court, in a judgement, gave a contrary judgement, asking the party to proceed with the convention. It asked INEC to monitor the exercise.

But while delivering judgement in a suit against the party by former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, on Wednesday, Peter Lifu, a judge of the Federal High Court, also stopped the convention.

Despite the array of judgements, the party has repeatedly said it would proceed with the elective convention.