Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has vowed to confront Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over the planned national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled to hold in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Makinde, speaking to journalists in Lagos on Thursday after the PDP Southern Consultative Zoning Meeting, said he was prepared to match Wike’s opposition with equal force if necessary.
“Personally, when people go low or go into the gutters, I don’t go with them. But on this matter, I am ready to meet them there if that is what it takes,” the governor said.
The PDP had earlier fixed its national convention for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, a decision ratified by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC). However, Wike, an NEC member, claimed he was neither informed nor invited to the NEC meeting.
“I am not aware that they are going to a convention in Ibadan. As an NEC member, I have not been informed, nor have I been invited to the NEC meeting,” Wike said on Wednesday.
Contrary to his claim, findings revealed that the FCT minister was duly invited to the meeting.
Wike has consistently maintained that the PDP’s internal crisis will linger until the party recognises the outcome of the South-South Zonal Congress held in February in Calabar, Cross River State.
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At the congress, Dan Orbih, an ally of Wike, was re-elected as chairman. The PDP National Working Committee (NWC) later disowned the congress and rejected Orbih’s election in March, fueling factional tension.
The crisis worsened on Thursday after some PDP leaders, including state chairmen from the South-East and South-South, said they were not invited to the Lagos zoning meeting. They described the gathering as “secretive” and vowed to resist its outcome.
Makinde, however, assured that efforts would be made to reach out to the aggrieved members, stressing that the party’s unity was more important than personal grievances.
“I can disagree with people, but there shouldn’t be anything personal here. It should be about what we are offering Nigerians because they are watching. We want to give them a PDP that can provide real alternatives,” he said.
Those present at the Lagos meeting included Douye Diri, governor of Bayelsa; Adolphus Wabara, chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT); Olabode George, former deputy national chairman; and Udom Emmanuel, former governor of Akwa Ibom.
Last week, the PDP NWC inaugurated a 44-member zoning committee to allocate national leadership positions among the six geopolitical zones ahead of the Ibadan convention.