PDP
Rivers PDP says Ibadan National Convention illegal, APC mocks gathering
The recent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention in Ibadan has been plunged into controversy, with the party’s own chapter in Rivers State declaring it “illegal” and a “sham,” while the rival All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos described it as a “charade” and a “valedictory service” for a dying party.
The PDP in Rivers State stated that the convention and its outcomes “will not stand,” citing two Federal High Court orders that had barred the party from proceeding.
The party praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for boycotting the event, calling it an adherence to the rule of law.
Kenneth Yowika, the Rivers PDP Publicity Secretary, expressed confidence that the convention would be declared invalid by the courts, urging members to remain calm.
“The ill-advised convention cannot withstand legal scrutiny as it is already sub judice at the Court of Appeal. We rest our faith solely on the judiciary,” the statement read.
In a lengthy and biting statement, the Lagos APC spokesman, Oluseye Oladejo, mocked the convention as a spectacle of confusion and desperation.
He highlighted the absence of notable PDP leaders, including incumbent governors, and the boycott by delegates from thirteen states as proof of the party’s terminal decline.
“When a party’s own delegates choose absence over association, the diagnosis is clear: the patient is not just unwell; it is clinically unresponsive,” Oladejo wrote.
He asserted that the PDP has failed to provide a credible opposition, making it a “danger to our nascent democracy.”
The statement concluded that the convention was not a rebirth but the “formal burial of a fading political empire.”
Adding to the internal criticism, a founding member of the PDP, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, reflected on the party’s formation 27 years ago as a unifying force built on “dialogue, broad consultation, and a deep spirit of inclusion.”
He expressed concern that the current “fragmentation, court-induced confusion, and exclusionary politics” contradict the party’s original principles.
Olawepo-Hashim called for unity and dialogue, urging leaders to “bring all sides back to the table to save the PDP and save Nigeria’s democracy.”
The PDP, once Africa’s largest political party, has been plagued by internal crises since losing the presidency in 2015, with the recent convention highlighting its deepening fractures.
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