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Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was plunged deeper into crisis on Thursday after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) formally recognized a caretaker committee backed by Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, triggering outrage from rival party factions.
The decision has intensified a long-running leadership dispute within the PDP, pitting the Wike-backed caretaker committee against a bloc aligned with PDP governors and led by Tanimu Turaki (SAN), who claims the position of national chairman.
The escalation became public after INEC invited members of the caretaker committee to its quarterly consultative meeting with political parties in Abuja. The committee is led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, with Samuel Anyanwu serving as caretaker national secretary.
At the meeting venue, Mohammed sat in a front-row seat marked “PDP Chairman,” while Anyanwu occupied a seat labeled “PDP National Secretary,” a visible sign of INEC’s recognition of the faction.
Speaking to reporters after the closed-door meeting, Anyanwu said the committee attended as the officially recognized leadership of the party. “We were invited as the recognized leadership of the PDP to participate in this crucial consultative meeting between INEC and political parties to deliberate on party matters and electoral issues,” he said.
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Anyanwu pointed to a recent Federal High Court judgment, which he said had resolved the party’s leadership dispute by nullifying a rival PDP convention held in November 2025.
“The court made it very clear that the so-called convention of November 15 and 16, 2025, is a nullity,” Anyanwu said. “No other person should parade himself or herself as a member of the National Working Committee of the PDP.”
According to him, the ruling affirmed that the only body empowered to speak and act for the PDP is the National Working Committee led by Abdulrahman Mohammed.
He added that the caretaker committee is preparing to reposition the party ahead of the 2027 general elections, insisting the PDP will field candidates at all levels.
“Concerns that the PDP might not present candidates in upcoming elections have now been resolved,” Anyanwu said. “The party will present candidates across all positions.”
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The caretaker secretary said the faction plans to assume control of Wadata Plaza, the PDP’s national headquarters, on Monday, following the resolution of outstanding legal and security issues.
He alleged that attempts by the rival Turaki-led faction to block access to the party office using police intervention had failed in court.
“The police took over the place, and the other group went to court to ask the police to reopen it,” Anyanwu said. “That matter was dismissed because they had no locus. By Monday, we are taking over the office.”
Meanwhile, PDP governors and party leaders aligned with the Turaki-led National Working Committee have rejected INEC’s decision and are weighing legal options.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the faction condemned INEC’s recognition of the Wike-backed caretaker committee, describing the move as unconstitutional and provocative.
The group accused the electoral body of overstepping its authority and warned that the action could worsen internal divisions within the opposition party.
The PDP crisis, which has dragged through court battles and factional conventions, now appears headed for another round of legal confrontation, with significant implications for the party’s cohesion ahead of the 2027 elections.
