A former Senate President Bukola Saraki; a former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike and some other concerned stakeholders are in the process of launching a fresh initiative to save the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) from total destruction, according to The Nation.
The party is currently embroiled in a battle of attrition that has depleted its rank and file over the last one year.
Six of the governors elected on its platform have already defected, five to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The sixth governor, Ademola Adeleke of Osun State is being courted by the Accord Party.
The infighting has also sparked a wave of expulsions and counter expulsions of influential members by the two factions fighting for the soul of the party.
It was gathered on Saturday that the crisis is threatening the chances of the party in next year’s off season governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.
Saraki is said to be the main driver of the initiative which is anchored on the constitution of a caretaker committee made of representatives of the rival factions.
The caretaker committee (if and when constituted) will run the affairs of the party pending the conduct of a national convention acceptable to all sides.
Last month’s convention of the party in Ibadan which elected a new National Executive Committee under the leadership of Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu is now a subject of litigation.
Saraki first mooted the idea of a caretaker committee shortly before the Ibadan convention.
He declined to attend the convention because, according to him, it would only compound the crisis.
Sources told The Nation that he has now revived the idea and is reaching out to as many party chieftains as possible.
Wike, whose group is contesting the legality of the Ibadan convention, and Lamido who got a court injunction to stop the convention, are understood to be open to the idea of a caretaker committee.
A meeting of concerned stakeholders is being planned possibly for this week to endorse the idea.
A source said: ‘Former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki who has been the leading factor in efforts towards reconciliation suggested the formation of a National Caretaker Committee weeks ago and his loyalists as well as those working with FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and former Jigawa state governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido have already gone far on the National Caretaker Committee project.
‘Efforts have reached a climax and with the expiration of the current PDP National Working Committee’s four-year tenure on 10 December and the legally invalid basis for the 15 November gathering in Ibadan, the only pragmatic way out is for PDP to have a National Caretaker Committee’.
‘Contending sides in the leadership tussle are aware that the next ruling from the Federal High Court will most likely be based on the constitutional pre-convention conditions that were never fulfilled before the so-called Ibadan convention and without the immediate constitution of a Caretaker Committee, the party may find itself in limbo’, a PDP legislator said in Abuja.
Another source said loyalists of influential members of the party are moving fast towards actualising the agenda for a national caretaker committee which they see as the most effective strategy for ending the party’s crisis.
Shortly after the Ibadan convention, the party’s National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum handed over the reins of leadership to Tanimu.
The website of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) checked on Friday night still displayed the names of Damagum and Senator Samuel Anyanwu as PDP National Chairman and National Secretary respectively.
The uncertainties created by the crisis in the party are now putting at risk the participation of its candidates in the 20 June 2026 off-season governorship election in Ekiti State and that of 8 August 2026 in Osun State.
The uncertainties were responsible for the recent exit of Osun Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke who is now seeking reelection on the platform of another party. He is currently being wooed by the Accord Party.
Under the guidelines for the elections, the various parties are required to upload the names of their candidates for the Ekiti State governorship election by 22 December and those for Osun State by 9 February 2026.
Access code for uploading the details of the governorship candidates on the INEC portal was due for collection on 10 November in respect of Ekiti State and 15 December in respect of Osun State governorship elections.
Only the National Chairman and National Secretary of the parties are in possession of the code.
The section reads: ‘The National Chairman and National Secretary of political parties as contained in the commission’s records shall be issued access code for the electronic submission, withdrawal and substitution of names and particulars of their candidates as elected at the political party primaries monitored by the ccommission’
The guidelines also say that ‘where there are conflicting requests from the National Chairman and National Secretary of a political party, the access code shall be issued to the National Chairman of the party’.
With Damagum and Anyanwu belonging to different camps, the situation looks messy for the PDP.
INEC is keeping mute on the leadership crisis in the party.
National Publicity Secretary of the Turaki faction, Mr. Ini Ememobong declined to speak on the issue when contacted yesterday.
The Wike faction also could not be reached for reaction on the development.
The preliminary lists of candidates contesting the two elections are expected to be displayed by the Commission on the 29 December for Ekiti State and 26 February, 2026 for Osun State.
On Saturday, the Turaki faction threatened to institute legal action against 17 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected to the APC on Friday.
Ememobong accused the lawmakers of working against democratic progress of the state.
He called them political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress.
‘They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature’, he said.
‘Consequently, the PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(1999 as amended) to recover the mandate gained under the banner of our party which these people have now ignobly and surreptitiously switched to another platform.
‘We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity’.
