The internal conflicts within Nigeria’s opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), escalated dramatically last week, as the National Working Committee (NWC) grappled with a wave of suspensions among its senior members.
The crisis has been simmering since the 2023 general elections and recently took a sharper turn with mounting divisions and an increasing factional divide.
In a recent move, the acting PDP National Chairman, Umar Damagum, led the NWC to suspend both National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba and National Legal Adviser Kamaldeen Ajibade.
This action, however, was quickly countered by Ajibade’s faction, which in retaliation suspended both Damagum and the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, heightening tensions within the party’s ranks.
This series of suspensions and counter-suspensions paved the way for Alhaji Yayari Mohammed to emerge as a rival PDP National Chairman, further complicating the party’s leadership structure.
This power struggle unfolded despite a ruling from the Federal High Court in Abuja, which issued a restraining order to prevent any attempt to remove Damagum as acting chairman before the party’s national convention scheduled for December of the following year.
The court’s decision emphasized that Damagum remains the legally recognized leader of the PDP until then, barring the appointment of any other individual to his position.
As the discord worsens, PDP governors have intervened, advising all parties involved to maintain the status quo in a bid to contain the fallout.
Reacting to the mounting crisis, Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communication for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, expressed deep concern over the long-term consequences.
Shaibu warned that if the leadership conflict remains unresolved, it could severely compromise the PDP’s future, potentially shifting Nigeria toward a one-party system dominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Shaibu, certain individuals within the party are working with hidden motives that align with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), aiming to destabilize the PDP and ultimately create a one-party system in Nigeria.
He told DAILY POST: “If it’s unresolved and they allow those working for the APC to succeed with their agenda, then it will be a natural result. It will be a one-party state.
“A group of boys went around town bragging that they were working for the APC yet remained with the party, so what do you expect to get?
“It’s either we allow them to kill the party and turn Nigeria into a one-party state or stop them and do the right thing.
“It’s natural that it will affect the party’s future and that is the agenda of those stoking the crisis, they are paid agents who are working and serving an interest.
“You can’t serve God and Mammon, you can’t serve two masters; these guys know what they are doing because they started it in the last election and have continued unabated.
“Instead of governance, they are already thinking of 2027 and they need to continue stoking this kind of crisis to remain relevant, so that their paymasters will continue to pay them, those who have cases with security agencies and financial crimes commission will continue to be working free; so they know why they are stoking the crisis.
“They know that if the crisis continues, there is no way they can get anything out of it because a house divided against itself can’t stand.”