Wike’s Camp Lists Conditions For PDP Convention

A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has demanded that the national chairmanship of the party remain in the north-central zone.

The group, known as the Eminent Leaders and Concerned Stakeholders, made its position known on Monday night in Abuja while setting conditions for the party’s upcoming national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The zoning of the PDP chairmanship has been a recurring issue since 2021, when the position was allocated to the north and further narrowed to the north-central. It was under this arrangement that Iyorchia Ayu from Benue was elected as chairman before his suspension by court order, which cleared the way for Umar Damagum, then deputy national chairman (north), to act in his place. Damagum, who hails from Yobe in the north-east, was confirmed as substantive chairman by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) on August 25, a development that Wike’s group has openly challenged.

The Wike bloc insists that a credible and acceptable convention cannot be achieved without addressing what it describes as unresolved congresses and disregard for court rulings. In its communiqué, the group called for fresh congresses in Ebonyi and Anambra states, recognition of the south-south congress held in Calabar, and a new south-east zonal congress. It also demanded that local government congresses in Ekiti be conducted immediately in line with subsisting judgments.

The group further rejected any attempt at micro-zoning within the north, stressing that the chairmanship must stay with the north-central for fairness and stability in the party. It warned that failing to implement these resolutions would undermine the legitimacy of the convention and disenfranchise valid members.

Those at the Abuja meeting included Wike, PDP national secretary Samuel Anyanwu, former governors Okezie Ikpeazu, Samuel Ortom, Ayo Fayose, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as well as Kingsley Chinda, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and Martins Amaewhule, suspended speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, among others.