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PDP Govs, Wike’s Loyalists in Battle Over Chairmanship, Secretary

PDP Govs, Wike’s Loyalists in Battle Over Chairmanship, Secretary

*Governors may settle for Shekarau, FCT minister’s camp pushes for Ortom

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

As the November 16, 2025 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) approaches, the governors elected on the party’s platform and the loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike are in fresh battle of wits for the positions of the National Chairman and the National Secretary of the main opposition party, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.

THISDAY gathered that both the PDP governors and Wike’s camp are of the view that the next national chairman of the PDP should be a former governor, to command respect from party faithful.
However, following the failure of the Governor Douye Diri-led zoning committee of the party, which zoned the position of the national chairman to the North, to micro-zone it to any geopolitical zone, the governors may have settled for the former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, from the North-west.

On their part, Wike’s loyalists, who were formerly considering Hon. T.J. Yusuf from Kogi State as their candidate, are said to be rooting for the former governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, from the North-central.
 Ortom was a former Benue State secretary of PDP, former deputy state chairman, and the National Auditor before he became a minister and governor for eight years.

THISDAY gathered that Ortom’s national chairmanship ambition is the reason the Wike’s camp is insisting that the national chairman should be retained by the North-central, and rejected the micro-zoning of the office to Shekarau’s North-west.
Investigation also revealed that the PDP governors and Wike’s group disagreed on the zoning of the office of the national secretary.

The three zonal chairmen of the party from the South have zoned the office of national secretary, which is currently in the South-east, to the South-west.
The party’s stakeholders are contending that since Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State could emerge as the presidential candidate of the party, it would be unfair to zone the office of the national secretary to the South-west.
Consequently, this position was swapped with the office of the deputy national chairman.

It was also for this same reason that the office of the national chairman was moved from the North-east, which is the zone of the outgoing national chairman, Ambassador Illya Damagum, due to the presumption that the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, who is from the same zone, could aspire to become Makinde’s running mate.
 With these developments, the office of the National Chairman was zoned to the North-west, while the zoning of the National Secretary to the South-west was also being reviewed.  

In a document sighted by THISDAY, the zoning arrangement was formalised in a memo dated September 1, 2025, and signed by the three National Vice Chairmen from the South – Dr. Ali Odefa (South-east), Ajisafe Kamorudeen (South-west), and Chief Emmanuel Ogidi (South-south).

In the document, the South-east was allocated the office of the National Financial Secretary (NFS), Deputy National Secretary (DNS), National Women’s Leader (NWL), and Deputy National Youth Leader (DNYL).

 The South-west got the positions of the National Secretary (NS), National Auditor (NA), and Deputy National Organising Secretary (DNOS)
 Also, the South-south was allocated the positions of the Deputy National Chairman–South (DNC-S), National Publicity Secretary (NPS), Deputy National Treasurer (DNT), and the Deputy National Legal Adviser (DNLA).
But the outgoing National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, has kicked against the proposals by the three zonal chairmen.

He said he was unaware of the said zoning agreement in the South-east.
Anyanwu, who is Wike’s close political ally, told THISDAY that one of the signatories to the said letter, Ali Odefa, is no longer a member of the party.

But reacting to Anyanwu’s claim, Odefa, who signed the letter as the South-east zonal chairman, also told THISDAY that he would not join those who decided to go so low.
THISDAY gathered that Anyanwu kicked against the move to zone the party’s national secretary to the South-west, arguing that it could effectively tilt the balance of power in the party’s secretariat in favour of the South-west and boost Makinde’s presidential ambition.

Makinde is locked in a supremacy battle with Wike.
 Wike’s loyalists described the zoning of the offices as unfair and unacceptable.
The FCT minister’s camp had rejected any form of micro-zoning and called for an inclusive national convention where all would be allowed to contest in line with the zoning arrangements by Governor Diri’s zoning committee.

Competent sources told THISDAY that Makinde and the South-east stakeholders are lobbying to retain the office of the national secretary in their respective states.
 The contest for the national secretary was what nearly marred the recent stakeholders’ meeting of the PDP in Lagos.

 THISDAY gathered that the South-west is plotting that the deputy national chairman, Taofeek Arapaja, becomes the new national secretary, thus moving the deputy national chairman to the South-south
 The three zonal chairmen of South-east, South-west, and South-south in their jointly signed sharing letter have agreed to this.

THISDAY was told that the South-south is also rooting for the office of the National Publicity Secretary, which is currently held by Ondo State.
The office of the National Auditor currently held by Anambra State is said to have been zoned to Abia State.
The position of Wike’s camp is that Odefa can’t negotiate for the zone to the extent of signing the letter, having been sacked by an Ebonyi State High Court.

The minister’s loyalists also noted that Odefa has not challenged his sack by the High Court.
 In the South-east, the Wike’s camp said that the recognised South-east chairman is Chidi Ebere Egwu, as directed by the Ebonyi State High Court.
 Meanwhile, the Cross River State chapter of PDP has broken ranks with the Wike-led faction of the party by unveiling its chairmanship candidate for the September 27 Congress.

The party’s caucus in Cross River Central senatorial district on Thursday unveiled Tim Ekawu as their candidate for the forthcoming state congress, insisting that they have no apologies for taking the stand.
 With the latest development, the district has now joined the southern senatorial district, which had earlier on Wednesday also pledged its support for Ekawu, in defiance of the position of the state party caucus considered loyal to Wike.

Rising from their stakeholders’ meeting, the Central senatorial district caucus unanimously argued that Wike is now a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and is not in any position to dictate what happens in the PDP.
 In a communique signed by Anthony Edako, who is also the state secretary of the PDP, the caucus endorsed the party’s decision regarding the date and venue for the national convention.

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*Governors may settle for Shekarau, FCT minister’s camp pushes for Ortom Chuks Okocha in Abuja As the November 16, 2025 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) approaches, the
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2027: APC Desperately Plotting to Infiltrate Our Ranks, Hijack Our Structures, Labour Party Cries Out

2027: APC Desperately Plotting to Infiltrate Our Ranks, Hijack Our Structures, Labour Party Cries Out

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Ahead of the 2027 general election, the Senator Nenadi Usman-led Labour Party (LP) has cried out over what it described as a desperate plot by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to hijack its structures by infiltrating its ranks.
It also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s seemingly unending love for foreign travels amidst Nigeria’s growing security and economic challenges.
Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Tony Akeni, said this yesterday in a telephone interview with THISDAY.

Akeni explained that information reaching the party’s headquarters from various states of the federation showed that the ruling party was positioning its moles to infiltrate the party structures through the scheduled party congresses at the ward, local government, state, zonal, and ultimately, the national level.
Akeni said, “We have been made aware of the heinous plot by the ruling APC to infiltrate our ranks at all levels to derail our forthcoming congresses.

“If they fail, they plan to get a seat on our party’s table to continue from where they stopped after failing to use our former National Chairman, Julius Abure, to distract us from our goal of rebuilding our party.
“Nigerians are also aware of what the current administration has turned our institutions, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), into.

“We all witnessed to what transpired during the by-elections, which were held in 16 out of the 36 states recently, and the manipulation of the ongoing voter registration exercise.
“Our nation cannot afford to have a repeat of the era where the American boxer, Mike Tyson, the late pop star, Michael Jackson, and Lionel Richie appear on our voters’ register.
“As a party, we will continue to urge Nigerian voters to be vigilant. Eternal vigilance, as they say, is the price we all must pay to protect our democracy.

“The body language of INEC as presently constituted gives it away as an institution which is only ready to pander to the whims and caprices of the ruling party.
“We can only pray that whosoever is coming into office after the tenure of the current INEC boss expires in November or December is not going to throw the confidence of Nigerians down the drain,” he explained.
Speaking on the kind of person the LP would like to head INEC in the foreseeable future, he said the person must be above board, fair-minded, God fearing, incorruptible, and most of all, must possess all that it takes to tell truth to power.

In a statement later issued by Akeni on behalf of the party, he criticised Tinubu’s seemingly unending love for foreign travels amidst Nigeria’s growing security and economic challenges.
He said the president’s trip this time around indicated that he was increasingly becoming allergic to staying at home to tackle the nation’s problems.

President Tinubu left Nigeria for a 10-day working vacation in France and the United Kingdom as part of his 2025 annual leave on Thursday.
Akeni noted that available records show that 135 million Nigerians fell into poverty within the first 18 months of Tinubu’s administration due to difficult economic policies.

He equally pointed out that galloping inflation, weakening of Nigeria’s currency, the naira, and insecurity have been the hallmark of Tinubu’s rule since he took power in 2023.
Akeni said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu departed Nigeria for yet another of his many overseas trips.
“This time, the trip is officially explained as a 10-day vacation and part of his 2025 annual leave, which he will spend in France and the United Kingdom.

“As President Tinubu takes to the sky, he leaves behind a country ravaged by economic hardship where 135 million citizens fell into poverty in the first 18 months of his administration, caused by his difficult economic policies.
“Tinubu also leaves behind an insecurity of historic proportions, where 57 Nigerians die every day from various forms of violent death.
“This amounts to seven deaths more than Ukraine’s war casualties, which lose 50 citizens per day in its full-scale war with Russia, according to research by Mediazona and The Book of Memory Group, corroborated by a similar BBC study.

“The Nigerian casualty figures exclude deaths from daily traffic accidents, Nigeria’s frequent boat mishaps, and other civil hazards.
“You will recall that President Tinubu had only sat in office for four months after his swearing in on May 29, 2023, when he flew overseas on his first annual vacation. This was on October 2, 2023.
“This means that under the APC governance manual, four months made up one year for the Nigerian president to go on an annual vacation. This is historic for a post-inaugural president because it doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world.

“Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu has travelled and virtually ‘lived’ outside Nigeria for nearly 160 days. This is almost half of an entire year in only two years of office.
“Tracing this unproductive trend backwards to Buhari’s days, records show that APC produces dinner and toothpick presidents who eat breakfast in Abuja, have lunch in Paris, and belch in London.

“They enjoy costly vacations abroad like children enjoy excursions to amusement parks. From Buhari’s administration to Tinubu’s current rule, that is the only reason why billions of naira they vote every year for the Aso Villa presidential clinic perpetually empty into unknown pockets, and the clinic’s medicine shelves do not have drugs for even cramps.

“From late Buhari to Tinubu, APC has continued to produce nomadic presidents whose medical and social tourism cost our country billions of Naira in taxpayers’ money.”

The Labour Party’s interim spokesman said the party will do things differently should Nigerians vote it into power come 2027.

According to him, it is the government’s responsibility to put in place a standard healthcare system that would cater to all citizens.

The post 2027: APC Desperately Plotting to Infiltrate Our Ranks, Hijack Our Structures, Labour Party Cries Out appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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Chuks Okocha in Abuja Ahead of the 2027 general election, the Senator Nenadi Usman-led Labour Party (LP) has cried out over what it described as a desperate plot by the
The post 2027: APC Desperately Plotting to Infiltrate Our Ranks, Hijack Our Structures, Labour Party Cries Out appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.