South-west leads as PDP hits 4.3m in membership registration

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says a total of 4,264,675 Nigerians have registered as members of the party across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as at 31 March

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The party disclosed this in the latest official membership data released by Ini Ememobong, the national publicity secretary of the Taminu Turaki-led faction, on Wednesday in Abuja.

A breakdown of the data showed that 2,158,742 members, representing 50.6 per cent of the registered total, are from the North, while 2,105,933, representing 49.4 per cent, are from the South.

The regional distribution saw the South-west zone leading with 953,954 members, followed by the South-south with 917,652; North-central with 757,502; North-west with 754,935; North-east with 646,305; and South-east with 234,327 members.

A state-by-state analysis also revealed that Kaduna State recorded the highest number of registrants, with 408,915 members, followed by Edo with 378,033; Oyo, 368,204; Ogun, 316,311; and Kano, 275,786.

In terms of gender distribution, male registrants stood at 2,336,069 (54.8 per cent), while female members accounted for 1,928,606 (45.2 per cent).

The age demographics showed that the youth category (18–40 years) dominated the exercise with 1,720,355 members (40.3 per cent).

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The middle-aged group (41–60 years) followed with 1,309,840 (30.7 per cent), while senior citizens (61 years and above) accounted for 1,234,480 (28.9 per cent).

Briefing journalists on the outcome of the digital membership registration, Mr Ememobong said that the figures proved that the electorate remained loyal to the party despite the defection of some political office holders.

“This digital membership registration has shown clearly that the politicians are defecting, not the electorate.

“If they wanted to join the ruling party, they would have easily registered with them, with the numerous enticements that are usually concomitant with registering there,” he said.

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Mr Ememobong stated that the average registration at the polling unit level was 24 members, with an average of 484 members per ward across the 774 local government areas.

He described the three-week exercise as “herculean” but “successful”, adding that the National Working Committee (NWC) had approved an extension of the registration period to 30 April to accommodate more Nigerians.

Mr Ememobong urged members to ensure that they were properly captured on the digital platform, iampdp.org, reiterating that the registration remained free.

He stated that PDP, under the Turaki leadership, remained a formidable opposition, committed to safeguarding the country’s political future.

(NAN)