The Peoples Democratic Party began a fresh round of meetings on Monday in Abuja as the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee moved to address the growing crisis in the party and prevent more high-profile members from leaving. The talks involve state chairmen, former governors, former ministers, lawmakers and other major figures across the country. The plan is to meet them through the week to calm rising tension in the party.
The development came after a member of the NWC, who was not cleared to speak publicly, explained that the discussions were arranged to steady the party after weeks of rivalry between different factions. The National Organising Secretary, Theophilous Shan, later confirmed that the meetings were part of a wider plan to engage with leaders in every part of the party.
The crisis deepened after the November 16 convention held in Ibadan, where Turaki and other NWC members were elected for a four-year term. Even though governors accepted the outcome and supported the new leadership, some top members, including Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, Mohammed Abdulrahman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu, continue to insist they hold the positions of acting National Chairman and acting National Secretary. The handover from the former chairman, Umar Damagum, to Turaki took place shortly before the end of Damagum’s tenure, yet Wike’s group went ahead on Sunday to set up its own 60-day caretaker committee.
As the situation remained unclear, the Turaki-led NWC fixed meetings with state chairmen, PDP members in the Senate and House of Representatives, national ex-officio members and forums of former office holders. The schedule released by Shan showed that the committee will meet state chairmen, House members and national ex-officios on Wednesday, December 10. The committee is also expected to present a Certificate of Return to Dr Oluwole Oluyede, the party’s candidate for the June 20, 2026 Ekiti governorship election.
The NWC will meet former governors, former ministers and past NWC members on Tuesday, December 16, while senators will meet the committee on Wednesday, December 17. According to insiders, Turaki plans to use the sessions to rebuild trust, ask party members not to defect and share plans for the future.
The struggle inside the party continued on another front as the NWC announced that the Osun State Governorship Appeal Panel, led by Turaki, will sit on Thursday, December 11, to review complaints from the state primary ahead of the 2026 election.
But tension resurfaced when the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, and the South-East PDP caucus leader, Idu Igariwey, said they would not attend Wednesday’s meeting. Chinda said he received no invitation, while Igariwey also said he had not been reached. In contrast, the PDP caucus leader in the House, Fred Agbedi, confirmed that he would attend and added that members had known about the meeting for days. Mansur Soro from Bauchi State also confirmed that the invitation was open to all lawmakers.
The party remains divided, with Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed leading one camp and Nyesom Wike leading the other. The division grew worse after the Ibadan convention, which got the approval of an Oyo State High Court but was twice stopped by the Federal High Court in Abuja over issues linked to the party’s constitution. The national secretariat has been locked by the police to stop clashes as both sides continue to claim control.
As of the time of filing the report, the Deputy National Secretary, Richard Ihediwa, and the National Organising Secretary, Theophilous Shan, could not be reached for comments.