As PDP Leadership Crisis Deepens, Chieftain Urges First-Term Governors to Lead Convention Process By: Bayo Ololade
As the leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensifies ahead of its forthcoming national congress, a party chieftain from Sokoto State, Malam Bala Idris, has called for restraint, unity, and forward-thinking leadership within the ranks of the party.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Idris urged the PDP to allow its first-term governors, particularly those of Osun, Zamfara, and Plateau States, to play a major role in determining the direction of the party’s leadership as the convention approaches.
> “The first-term governors must play a major role in the forthcoming convention to elect credible members into the National Working Committee (NWC),” Idris said. “They represent the future of our party and must be given the space to shape its destiny.”
He stressed that outgoing governors should not be allowed to control the structure of the party, warning that such interference has been the root of the PDP’s persistent internal crises.
> “Outgoing governors of Oyo, Bauchi, and Adamawa have limited time left in office,” he noted. “They should allow the first-term governors to drive the process for the sake of continuity, peace, and fairness. We must avoid a repeat of situations where NWC members owe allegiance to former governors instead of the party and its current leadership.”
Idris cited the ongoing challenges within the party linked to former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, whose influence over the current NWC has, according to him, continued to destabilize the PDP.
> “We have seen the damage that can be done when former governors impose party leaders who remain loyal to them rather than the collective interest,” Idris said pointedly. “The current situation, where a former governor like Nyesom Wike still wields enormous influence over the party’s structure, is unhealthy and must not be repeated.”
The Sokoto chieftain urged the party’s leadership to use the upcoming convention as a reset point to rebuild internal trust, promote generational renewal, and return the PDP to its founding ideals of fairness, inclusiveness, and accountability.
> “This convention should not just be a political ritual,” he added. “It must be an opportunity to elect credible, independent-minded individuals who will work for the unity and progress of the PDP — not as proxies of former office holders but as true servants of the party.”
Idris further appealed to all organs of the party — from the National Working Committee (NWC) to the Board of Trustees (BoT) — to close ranks and demonstrate that the PDP remains the credible alternative for national leadership.
> “The PDP must rise above personal ego and internal sabotage,” he said. “We must show Nigerians that we have learned from the past. What binds us together is greater than what divides us. Let us work together, respect one another, and put the party first. Only unity can guarantee victory.”
The Sokoto chieftain’s remarks come amid mounting tension within the PDP over leadership control and legal disputes ahead of the party’s national convention slated for November 15–16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
