The leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensified on Wednesday as the party’s two main factions publicly clashed over which body is recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
National Chairman Tanimu Turaki (SAN), speaking at the presentation of the Certificate of Return to the PDP Ekiti State governorship candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, insisted that INEC recognizes the National Working Committee backed by PDP governors as the party’s legitimate leadership.
The event, held at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, was attended by 30 PDP state chairmen, National Assembly members, NWC members, and supporters from Ekiti.
“All major stakeholders of the party stand with this NWC,” Turaki declared, asserting the committee’s legitimacy following the party’s national convention held in Ibadan on November 16, where he and other officers were elected to four-year terms.
However, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, National Secretary of the rival faction supported by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, immediately countered Turaki’s claim. Anyanwu had accused Turaki of misleading the public, stating that INEC had been formally notified of the party’s leadership change and recognizes the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led Caretaker Committee as the PDP’s lawful authority.
The crisis stems from the contentious November convention supported by PDP governors, which Minister Wike and his allies, including Mohammed Abdulrahman and Senator Anyanwu, have rejected. They maintain that Abdulrahman remains the Acting National Chairman and Anyanwu the Acting National Secretary.
