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…Dismisses claims of personal animosity with party leaders
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has stressed that conversations about zoning the 2027 presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are premature, insisting that the immediate task is to strengthen the party from within.
Speaking after a consultative summit of Southern PDP stakeholders on Thursday at the Legend Hotel, Ikeja, Governor Makinde dismissed suggestions of personal rifts with fellow leaders and appeared to make a subtle reference to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
“Personally, when people go low or go into the gutters, I don’t go with them,” Makinde said. “Some people are not going into the gutters. We will reach out to them. That is democracy. I can disagree with people, but there shouldn’t be anything personal here. It should be about what we are giving to Nigerians because they are watching.”
The governor underscored the PDP’s resilience, pointing to last Saturday’s by-elections as proof that the party remains a viable political force.
“In all our states, they showed last Saturday that PDP is not dead. In most other places of the 12 states, PDP came second. It is an indication to us that if we continue to work hard, we can reclaim the confidence of Nigerians,” he explained.
Makinde reiterated that unity and internal cohesion must come before any discussion of presidential nominations. “We haven’t even gotten there. We need to have a party first before you start talking about presidential candidates. If we don’t have a party, anything you are trying to do will fall flat,” he cautioned.
The Lagos meeting drew a wide range of Southern PDP leaders, among them BoT Chairman Senator Adolphus Wabara, Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri who also chairs the PDP National Zoning Committee, Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke, Deputy Governor of Enugu State Ifeanyi Ossai, former Osun governor Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, elder statesman Chief Bode George, and Senator Monsurat Sunmonu. Twelve of the 17 Southern PDP members in the National Assembly were also present.
Meanwhile, a faction allied with the Wike camp rejected the Lagos gathering, describing it as “illegal” and “exclusionary.”
In a joint statement, party chairmen from Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers States, together with National Vice Chairman (South-East) Chidiebere Egwu Goodluck and House Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda, announced their withdrawal. They accused the organisers of sidelining key party officers and former governors.
“Decisions reached in secrecy and exclusion cannot and shall not assume the authority of consensus,” the statement read, arguing that the Lagos meeting attempted to pre-empt the work of the zoning committee led by Governor Diri. The committee was inaugurated last week by Acting PDP National Chairman Umar Damagum and is mandated to harmonise positions ahead of the party’s elective convention scheduled for 15–16 November in Ibadan, Oyo State.
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