General Editor, Politics, Taiwo Adisa reviews the national conventions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held in Abuja, observing that the two achieved predetermined ends.

Before the November 15, 2025, national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Ibadan, Senate President Bukola Saraki acted like the Nostradamus of our political space when he dropped the advice that the party should rather put in place a caretaker committee. The party, however, shunned the advice, went ahead with the convention, and landed in further travails. But the group supported by the Minister of the Federal Capital (FCT), Nyesom Wike, went ahead to set up a caretaker Committee before the tenure of the former chairman, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, ended in December 2025.

That caretaker committee now appears to be the cornerstone of Wike’s control of the party, even as many other bigwigs have started joining the trail.

Within the All Progressives Congress (APC), the groundswell for the affirmation of Prof Nentawe Yilwatda-led National Working Committee was unmistakable ahead of the March 28 convention. There were hardly any issues as the ruling party spoke with one voice and tested its adoption of the consensus option, a move that would possibly be perfected during the forthcoming primaries for the various elective posts on offer for the 2027 polls. As expected, the APC convention sprang no surprises, and all went well. President Bola Tinubu, who spoke at the convention, spoke of unity among Nigerians as he chided the opposition parties for failing to put their houses in order.

Of all the conventions, the gathering of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Velodrome of the MKO Abiola National Stadium is the one that generated intense heat.

The night before

All eyes were on the Wike-led PDP ahead of the March 29-30 convention. The day before the convention, a report indicated that the faction of the party led by Tanimu Turaki (SAN) had headed to the Supreme Court to appeal the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which nullified the Ibadan convention. There was palpable tension in Abuja, as members of the PDP were largely unsure of the exact situation. There were concerns about whether INEC would monitor the convention, even as some members of the Turaki-led faction went to town with the indication that the convention would not hold because an appeal had been lodged with the Supreme Court. That, however, was doused in the evening house when Wike appeared on an inspection tour of the Velodrome location of the convention. He told the nation that all was well with the planned convention.

The two remaining governors of the party were clearly against the convention. Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, sanctioned the return to the Supreme Court, despite the push for reconciliation. One of the leaders who also spoke against the convention is presidential hopeful Gbenga Olawepo Hashim, who stated that a parallel convention might not be advisable.

The Saraki intervention

The former Senate President had attempted to play the peacemaker before the end of last year and was at a stage appointed to lead the search for peace by the Wike-led faction. As the convention drew closer, Saraki appeared on Channels Television, where he expressed his desire to attend the March 29 convention. It was gathered that he was also privy to several top-level meetings held in Abuja between Tuesday and Friday, centering on the need for a convention that could guarantee that the teeming members of the party are not disenfranchised in the 2027 polls.

As stated by a Saraki insider: “The view of the former senate president is primarily about the fate of the members as he advised that the feuding leaders of the PDP should take concrete steps to protect the interests of the members.”

He was also said to have insisted that the party must seek to put in place an NWC that would be recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while he urged party leaders to utilise the opportunity of the convention to scale the hurdle of having a leadership that is recognised by INEC.

Wike’s victory lap and convention proper

Having established that there was no court injunction stopping the conduct of the convention, the Wike group moved fast enough, and the venue was the Velodrome of the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja. It was an irony that at the same venue in 2022, Wike had lost the presidential primaries to former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar, a development that had some spiralling effects on the PDP, leading it to the greatest haemorrhage it has ever witnessed since its formation in 1998.

So, for Wike, it was a triumphant entry for the FCT Minister at the Velodrome, and every observer saw the joy in Wike on the day. He danced around the complex and was very energetic in his steps. The fact that the convention could hold for him was a victory for his caucus. After all the preliminaries at the convention ground, including the nullification of earlier motions ratified by the previous National Executive Committee, which named Damagum as substantive national chairman, the convention went ahead to elect Hon. Abdulrahman Mohammed Takushara as the new chairman. Whether he is a factional chairman or he would assume the full powers as the chairman of the PDP would be known after the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Questions over Saraki’s role

Several Nigerians have questioned whether Saraki was with Wike on this route or if he was working to prepare a platform for the 2027 presidential contest. He is a member of the highest decision-making organ of the party, being a former number three man in the country, so he is one of the elders. So what was Saraki driving at, roving around the Wike group and seeking an elusive peace with the other group? Sources close to the former governor of Kwara State said that he had seen the PDP as the veritable platform through which his supporters in the state could seek political power in the next election.

Said a source close to the former Senate helmsman said: “It is believed that he sees the PDP as the only platform that is capable of presenting a solid opposition to the ruling APC with its broad national outlook and structure. Remember, the PDP has never changed its name, and that makes it resonate with a lot of Nigerians.

“Then, Saraki’s supporters back in Kwara have affirmed that they want all their aspirants to contest elections on the PDP platform as it is their sure bet for regaining power in the state. A meeting of the party’s stakeholders in Ilorin last Wednesday agreed that its delegates from the state should attend the Abuja convention and that if they observe that INEC was present and other necessary recognition to validate the activities and resolutions from the convention are present, they will hold another meeting to finally decide on their political future.

“Saraki is of the view that the popularity of the PDP in Kwara State is unmistakable and that his supporters prefer the platform to mobilise the grassroots. Since all politics is local, the former Senate President is determined to listen to his supporters and pursue plans at the national level that will give maximum advantage to his supporters back home. Thus, the survival of PDP and its ability to field candidates in the 2027 polls is important to Saraki.”

It was also learnt that the former Senate president was calculating that the PDP was better placed to benefit from the possible implosion of the ruling party, which he said has become so big that its fall could be imminent. He believes many of the defectors to the APC and others who have gone to displace or put at a disadvantage will either return to the PDP or work for the PDP. He also told his supporters that a prominent gubernatorial aspirant who previously left the PDP for APC in Nasarawa State, David Ombugadu, has returned to the PDP and that many others are willing to return if they fail in the primaries.

To his joy, the convention was attended by INEC, and a stage could be set for a huge happening within the former ruling party, as the Wike group has been offered the legal right to run the party. Only a Supreme Court’s reversal, as hoped by Tanimu Turaki’s faction, could change Wike’s Abuja dance steps.

What next for PDP?

The former ruling party appears to have boxed itself into Wike’s corner for a long time, when the former Rivers State governor was left to cater for the soul of the party. The fact that many of the party’s governors refused to attend to its welfare strengthened the former Rivers man, and today, maybe he is reaping the fruits of his tenacity in funding the party over the years. However, a thick cloud still hangs in the air, and only the Supreme Court validation would clear the fog. As things stand, the Turaki faction may have to find avenues to fix its ambitious members in a platform that could enable them to contest elections, if words are not coming in early enough from the Supreme Court. As stated by a source, the task of reconciliation should be the duty of the Wike-led team, now that a convention recognised by INEC has been held. “The new NWC must move to withdraw all cases in courts and encourage the other faction to do the same,” the source said, adding that leaders like Saraki must continue to ring the bell of unity and peace. Incidentally, Gbenga Hashim also stated during the week that reconciliation is still possible even after the convention. Hopefully, elders like Sule Lamido, Bukola Saraki, Senator Abba Moro, and Chief Dan Orbi, among others, would serve the party with their wealth of experience to find a lasting peace under the umbrella.