Wike faction’s move escalates PDP crisis in Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti

The internal crisis fracturing Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), deepened last week as a faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, announced the dissolution of state executive committees in Ondo, Ogun, and Ekiti states and moved to install new leadership structures across multiple states ahead of its planned national convention.

The national working committee of the PDP, led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), has flatly rejected the move, with the faction’s spokesman, Ini Ememobong, describing the dissolution of the state executives in Ogun, Ekiti, and Ondo as “illegal and unwarranted.”

“We have seen a purported announcement of the dissolution of the elected state executive committees in Ogun, Ekiti and Ondo states,” Ememobong said, adding that the action was “an affront to the proposed reconciliation for which talks are underway” and that the dissolution was “null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”

The latest moves are part of a broader pattern of parallel party-building by the Wike-aligned faction. The elections followed a Court of Appeal ruling that invalidated the November 15 and 16 PDP convention held in Ibadan, which had produced Tanimu Turaki (SAN) as national chairman. As part of preparations for its proposed national convention scheduled for late March in Abuja, the Wike-backed faction had earlier conducted ward and zonal congresses before proceeding with state congresses.

The Wike-aligned group installed new state executives in Bayelsa, Ekiti, and Oyo states over the weekend, with similar exercises playing out in Kano, Borno, Plateau, Bauchi, Ebonyi, and Lagos in subsequent days.

In Ekiti, Lanre Omolase, an ally of former Governor Ayodele Fayose, was inaugurated as state chairman of the Wike-backed group, pledging to rebuild the party and restore it to electoral strength ahead of the 2027 general elections.

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While a congress was not reported as having taken place in Ondo State itself, the Ondo State PDP chapter raised the alarm over what it described as an attempt to destabilise the party following claims that the State Executive Committee had been dissolved by the Wike-aligned caretaker structure. The Turaki-led NWC subsequently directed party officials at all levels in the affected states, including Ondo to disregard any such dissolution notices and continue performing their lawful duties.

The factional maneuvering is building toward what both camps are treating as a defining moment. The Wike faction’s convention is scheduled for the 29th and 30th of March 2026 in Abuja, with its spokesman insisting the event will proceed as planned and citing Federal High Court and Court of Appeal judgments affirming the legitimacy of the National Caretaker Working Committee.

The Turaki camp, meanwhile, is reportedly exploring a fresh legal option. The Wike faction’s national publicity secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, said his side was aware of moves by the Turaki group to approach courts in Ibadan to secure an injunction halting the planned convention, and expressed dismay that such steps were being taken even as reconciliation invitations had been extended.

Despite assurances from both camps that a reconciliation panel would convene, the rejection by the Turaki-led NWC of the dissolution of the state executive committees in Ogun, Ekiti, and Ondo may have set back the progress made in brokering a lasting peace.

Elder statesman and founding PDP member, former Jigawa governor Sule Lamido, has appealed for calm. Lamido acknowledged disagreements within the party but stressed the need for dialogue, urging even those who disagree with Wike to engage him in the spirit of unity in order to stabilise the party and reposition it for future elections.

With a national convention days away, two parallel sets of executives being sworn in across multiple states, and courts potentially being drawn back in, the PDP’s path to unity remains deeply uncertain and its effectiveness as a national opposition force heading into 2027 continues to hang in the balance.