•Wike’s group dismisses meeting as illegal  

•CP-PDP defends zonal stakeholders

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Segun James in Lagos

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, yesterday, disclosed that the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the south, had taken far-reaching decision expected to lead to wider consultations in the days ahead, preparatory to their national convention proposed to hold in Ibadan, the state capital.

But a group of some stakeholders loyal to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, including state chairmen of the party, former governors, National Assembly members, serving and former National Working Committee members of the party, as well as other stakeholders from the region have disowned the meeting.

This was as the Conference of Professionals in the PDP has confirmed that the leaders of the party in the South did not dismiss the stakeholders’ summit organised by the zoning committee in Lagos, contrary to misleading claims by some elements in the party.

Speaking at the meeting, Makinde, who was flanked by Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State; chairman of the Board of Trustees and former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara; and the deputy governor of Enugu State, insisted that Wike was not the issue right now.

“Personally, when people go low, or they go into the gutters, I don’t go with them. Nothing should stop us from consulting. Democracy is about the minority having their say and the majority having their way. That is democracy.

“So, we’re democrats, the south has taken far-reaching decisions, and in the days ahead, leading to our next wider consultations will also take place, and we are sure that those that have been saying all around that PDP is dead.

“That PDP is now a carcass, at least with the calibre of the people that you’ve seen here, sitting governors, former governors, leaders and elders, the former senate president, chairman of BOT, they are all here and committed to PDP taking back its rightful position in Nigeria,” he said.

The meeting also had in attendance Chief Bode George, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Dr. Fred Agbedi, former governor Emanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, and Senator Ben Obi, among others.

Makinde explained further: “So, in the days ahead, some of the things discussed here, you’ll see them on pause. But you can see here. Go through a little bit of the people that are here.

“Governor Adeleke is here. He came back into this country, I believe this morning, and then he went straight to Osogbo to address some governance issues. But he said, look, whatever we decide here is with us.

“Governor Diri is here, Governor Peter Mbah, who couldn’t make it physically, sent the deputy governor, who is here. You have the chairman of our board of trustees here. You also have at least 12 of the 17 members of the zoning committee from the south.

“It’s one per state. So you have 12 states here. You have in each zone, you have rep members here, you have senators from each zone in the south, the three zones.

“You have BoT members from the three zones in the south. So, yes, I won’t say maybe the organisers will score 100%. You don’t score 100% in politics.

“And quite frankly, they are members of PDP. And consultation means you keep reaching out, you keep engaging. So, from this meeting, we will also reach out and engage and even do more.

“Exactly what are we trying to do? We’re trying to get all stakeholders, all tendencies in the PDP together so that we can give a credible alternative to Nigerians in the years ahead.”

On the zoning of offices, he said a decision on it was coming.

“It’s a next decision. This consultative meeting is not something that is statutory in the constitution of PDP. 

But democracy is inclusivity, reaching out and ensuring that all stakeholders are carried along, which is what we’ve done today.

“NEC is on Monday. Today is Thursday (yesterday). You will definitely have a decision. So, NEC is a proposal of Southern PDP members. Yes. These are prominent members. And, in your meeting a few hours before now, did you talk about the South producing the next presidential candidate for the party? 

“We haven’t even gotten there. We need to have a party first before you start talking about presidential candidates, you know, if we don’t have a party, anything that you’re trying to do will fall flat.

“Our efforts right now is directed towards having a viral and united PDP that Nigerians will be proud of and believe in again. I mean, that is democracy. We will reach out to them. I can disagree with people, but there shouldn’t be anything personal here.

“It should be about what are we giving to Nigerians because they are watching, you know. We want to rebuild PDP. In Oyo state, they showed last Saturday that PDP is not dead.

“In most other places of the 12 states, PDP came second in each of those. It’s some indication to us that if we continue to work hard, if we continue to strive hard, if we continue to bring our people together, we’ll get to a point where Nigerians will really start listening to us.”

Other Stakeholders Disown Meeting

State Chairmen of the PDP, former governors, National Assembly members, serving and former National Working Committee members, and other stakeholders from the southern region have disowned the zonal meeting scheduled for Lagos yesterday.

The PDP leaders, while describing the meeting as illegal, they dismissed “any resolutions, communiques, or outcomes purportedly emanating” from the meeting, saying “decisions reached in secrecy and exclusion cannot and shall not assume the authority of consensus.

The PDP chieftains made this known in a statement signed by the party chairmen of Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers, Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah, Venatuis Ikem, Aniekan Akpan, and Aaron Chukwuemeka, as well as the National Vice Chairman (South-East), Chidiebere Egwu Goodluck, and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, O. K. Chinda, among others.

“The said meeting tagged ‘a summit’ was allegedly convened in the name of the three geo-political zones of Southern Nigeria — South East, South South, and South West.

“It is highly regrettable and indeed deeply disturbing that such a meeting was convened without the courtesy of inviting several State Chairmen from the South East and South South, as well as the duly elected National Secretary and Deputy National Legal Adviser of our great party.

“Even more troubling is the inexplicable exclusion of several national officers, eminent leaders, and critical stakeholders of the PDP.

“Shockingly, the Minority Leader in the National Assembly and other principal officers of our party from the South-South and South-East were also deliberately sidelined and denied participation in a meeting where such far-reaching and sensitive decisions on zoning, power rotation, and political equity are to be discussed.

“Equally concerning is the deliberate omission of most former governors from the South East and South South, who, by every standard of history, pedigree, and institutional memory, remain critical stakeholders in any conversation about the future direction of our party. 

“Such a brazen disregard for established structures and statutory organs of the PDP not only offends the spirit of collective decision-making but also risks undermining the very foundation upon which our party was built.”

The PDP leaders, therefore, called on the National Working Committee (NWC), the National Executive Committee (NEC), and all stakeholders of the party to “disregard any outcome of the said meeting which is not only illegal but divisive.

CP-PDP Defends Meeting, States Outcome Did Not Dismiss Zoning

The Conference of Professionals in the PDP has defended leaders of the party in the south, saying they did not dismiss the Stakeholders Summit duly organised by the party’s zoning committee contrary to misleading claims by some misguided elements in the Party.

Instead, it said leaders of the party in the south not only embraced the summit but were massively in attendance for consultation with the zoning committee on the zoning of national offices ahead of the national convention scheduled to hold in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, on the 15th and 16th November, 2025.

The CP-PDP in a statement by its Chairman, Obinna Nwachukeu, said it could verify that the zoning committee led by Governor Diri duly invited and had in attendance at the meeting, relevant stakeholders from the South including the four PDP governors, Board of Trustees (BoT) members, the three National Vice Chairmen from the South, serving senators, serving members of the House of Representatives, State Chairmen, former governors and all members of the Zoning Committee from the South for consultation in line with the mandate assigned to the Committee by the party’s NEC. ‘’Any resolution or recommendation reached at the summit would therefore be valid, authentic and recognised by the party.

‘’It is thus imprudent and highly irresponsible for some individuals to attempt to discredit the valid and lawful activity of a body duly constituted by the NEC by attempting to mislead the public and members of our great party by claiming that the PDP leaders of the South are averse to the summit and that the summit was shrouded in secrecy.

‘’Information available to the Conference reveal that these misguided individuals are being teleguided and sponsored by a prominent Minister in the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration who has not hidden his intention to scuttle the scheduled National Convention of the PDP.”

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