Headline

Discordant Tones As PDP Holds Convention in Ibadan

Published

8 months ago

November 15, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

These are not the best of times for the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as two factions of the party are locked up in a war of superiority over the soul of the party even as the much talked about 2027 general elections draw dangerously close.

Slashed into two parts with Umar Damagum and Abdulrahman Mohammed holding each piece as chairman, the PDP continues to swim in troubled waters with no hope of reconciliation of in sight.

The brouhaha notwithstanding, the Demagum faction is poised to hold their advertised and promoted National Convention slated for Saturday and Sunday, November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State. The location is strategic as it is the home state of one of leading governors in the party, Seyi Makinde.

On the other hand, the Mohammed/Anyanwu faction has announced a postponement of the convention, in spite of the arrangements. While political commentators believe that Makinde is behind the Demagum PDP, and Abuja Minister, Nyesom Wike is behind the Mohammed/Anyanwu faction, it has been said the two party godfathers fell out with each other after their infamous G-5 governors romance in 2023.

The hosting of the Ibadan convention is coming on the heels of consistent and conflicting court judgments for and against the convention depending on who filed the case.

On Friday, the Federal High Court in Abuja, issued what it termed a ‘final’ order stopping the the PDP from proceeding with its 2025 national convention in Ibadan where new national officers are to be elected for the party. The election, ordinarily would have ended the long drawn leadership crisis that has bedeviled the party since the 2023, leading to their loss of the presidential election. Observers have said that since the entire party hierarchy and members are not in support of the convention owing to one reason or another, it becomes obvious that a sort of compromise is involved.

Meanwhile, the Demagum faction has already accused the ruling APC of being the brain behind the crises including the constantly flying about court injunctions restricting the planned convention.

Delivering his judgment on Friday, in a suit filed by former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido, who had asked the court to bar the PDP from going ahead with the convention until it complies with its constitution and guidelines, Justice Peter Lifu ordered that the Ibadan convention must be put on hold until Mr Lamido is allowed to purchase the nomination form for the office of national chairman and campaign for his aspiration

He also prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from supervising, monitoring or aiding the convention until Mr Lamido is allowed to participate.

The judge held that the PDP is under a strict obligation to adhere to its own rules and regulations by giving eligible members the opportunity to pursue their individual aspirations. He said it was wrong of the party to deny Mr Lamido the opportunity to purchase the nomination form for the national chairmanship.

He stated that the PDP was in clear breach of its constitution and guidelines by denying some members access to nomination forms for elective offices at the convention.

In an instant counter move, an Ibadan Federal High Court, ruled that the convention should continue as planned, asking the INEC provide monitoring and other facilities required for the smooth conduct of the convention.

It would be recalled that another judge of the same Federal High Court, Abuja, James Omotosho, had on 31 October restrained INEC from recognising the outcome of the forthcoming PDP convention. He issued the order while delivering judgement in a different suit challenging the legality of the convention.

The suit was filed by three aggrieved members of the party: Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP chairman), Amah Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman) and Turnah George (PDP secretary, South-South).

Mr Omotosho said the PDP failed to comply with relevant conditions and laws for holding the convention. He noted that evidence from the electoral umpire and some respondents showed that congresses were not held in some states, in breach of the law.

He also held that notices and correspondences signed by the PDP national chairman without the national secretary violated the law and were therefore null and void.

In addition, the court found that the PDP failed to issue the mandatory 21 days’ notice of meetings and congresses to enable INEC to monitor them. The judge said the party’s failure to comply with the law jeopardised the convention and advised it to take the necessary steps before proceeding with elections.

Mr Lifu had also on 11 November issued an interim injunction restraining the PDP from holding the convention and barring INEC from supervising, monitoring or recognising the outcome of the election of national officers.

He based the restriction on the PDP’s refusal and failure to comply with relevant conditions and laws for conducting conventions. He said evidence from Mr Lamido showed that the timetable for the convention was not published for members as required by law.

The judge said the balance of convenience favoured Mr Lamido because he would suffer more if unlawfully excluded from the convention. He noted that Mr Lamido undertook to pay damages to the PDP if his suit was found frivolous, to ensure remedy.

The judge added that due process must be strictly followed, warning that failure to do so would endanger democracy. He cited section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, saying courts must dispense justice without fear or favour. He warned that anarchy would prevail whenever courts abdicate their constitutionally assigned functions.

But the decisions of the Federal High Court in Abuja rub against another order of the Oyo State High Court in Ibadan, asking the PDP to proceed with the convention as planned.

The judge, A. L. Akintola, issued the interim order on 3 November following an ex-parte application filed by Folahan Adelabi.

The judge held that the claimant successfully demonstrated the need for urgent judicial intervention in the PDP matter.

“The court finds merit in the claimant’s motion ex-parte. The same succeeds and is hereby ordered as prayed,” the judge ruled.

Mr Adelabi filed the application, joining as respondents the PDP, its Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum; Governor Umaru Fintiri (representing the National Convention Organising Committee); and INEC.

The claimant had urged the court to restrain the defendants from truncating, frustrating, or disrupting the timetable, guidelines, and schedule of activities leading to the convention.

Granting the prayer, the court issued a raft of interim orders restraining any interference with the PDP’s timetable and schedule of activities and compelling the defendants to hold the national convention as fixed.

Presently, arrangements have been concluded for the convention to hold just as all loyalists of the Makinde and Demagum have arrived Ibadan. Though loyalists of the Wike and Anyanwu faction including Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State, have boycotted the convention.

While the convention goes on amid discordant tones, the ball rests on the court of the INEC to recognize the outcome or not. But whichever way one looks at it, this may trigger the beginning of a longer legal tussle.

Additional information: Premium Times

Headline

Parties’ Deregistration: ADC, Not NDC, is the Target

Published

1 day ago

June 29, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

As the 2027 presidential election draws closer, intrigues, manipulations and maneuvers have continued to be the order of the day as political parties engage in one gimmick or another to outdo and undo one another.

While some are playing politics of numbers and conviction, others are engaging tendencies that tend to question the status quo and established principles under which genuine democracy is formed. As a matter of fact, fingers have been pointed at the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government as the brain behind all machinations that have attempted to derail multi-party democracy, and institute a one-party state, which is alien to the Nigerian democratic roots. This is as a result of the constant imbroglio that has consistently engulf almost all the major political parties in the country.

Fresh facts have however, emerged to prove that every act of frustration thrown at the opposition has been indirectly aimed at the main opposition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

According to reliable sources, the recent deregistration of parties, especially the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), was actually targeted at the ADC.

Recall that the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, on June, 26, set aside its earlier judgement directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC as a political party. A ruling that put a question mark on the eligibility of the party presenting candidates in the forthcoming 2027 elections

The presiding judge, Isah Dashen, held that all relevant parties must be heard before any substantive decision can be made in the matter.

The court upheld the application filed by a certain organization, the Peace Movement Party (PMP), ruling that the party was a necessary party to the suit.

According to the judge, the earlier judgement was constitutionally defective as it was delivered without hearing from all interested parties.

He declared that such an omission rendered the entire process null and void.

Mr Dashen further ruled that the status quo be restored to what it was before the December 10, 2025 judgement, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

He also observed that certain material facts were suppressed in the earlier proceedings, which justified the decision to set aside the judgment.

Consequently, the court ordered that the substantive suit should begin afresh, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PMP and the NDC as parties to the case.

According to NAN’s reports, the applicant’s lawyer, Chikezie Ekeocha, told journalists that the PMP approached the court after discovering that NDC’s registration was based on a logo it had previously submitted to INEC before the commencement of the suit.

According to Mr Ekeocha, the court agreed that the applicant’s rights had been affected and consequently vacated the earlier judgement.

“The court has ordered all parties to return to the position they occupied before the judgment of 10 December 2025, and directed the claimants to join all necessary parties to ensure the issues in dispute are effectually and completely determined,” he said.

He explained that the implication of the ruling is that every action taken by INEC in compliance with the now-vacated judgment stands reversed.

“The recognition of the NDC, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s records, and any appearance on ballot papers arising from that judgement must be withdrawn pending the final determination of the substantive suit,” Mr Ekeocha stated.

He, however, clarified that the substantive case remains before the court and has not been decided.

“The matter has not been concluded. The court merely set aside its previous judgment and directed that the party whose interests were affected be joined so that all sides can be heard before a fresh decision is reached.”

Mr Ekeocha also dismissed suggestions that the court merely ordered parties to maintain the status quo, insisting that the ruling specifically directed a restoration of the position that existed before the 10 December 2025 judgement.

The ruling effectively returns the dispute over the registration of the NDC to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing, with all relevant parties expected to participate before a new determination is made.

It would also be recalled that a few weeks earlier, the Federal High Court in Abuja, had ordered the deregistration of five political parties including the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The others are Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Accord Party.

However, on June 16, the Court of Appeal in Abuja halted the enforcement of the judgement, ruling that it violated its earlier ruling staying proceedings before the Federal High Court.

While INEC awaits the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment to deregister the NDC, the NDC has reacted, rejecting the judgment as travesty of justice.

Lending credence to the notion that the President Tinubu-led administration is basically targeting the establishment of the ADC as a party, and the candidature of its presidential flagbearer, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is also the presidential candidate of the ADC, has stated categorically that there are plots to prevent the party from participating in the 2027 general election.

Atiku’s position is stated in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu on Monday, notifying the public that he had received credible information suggesting that political and legal manoeuvres were being deployed against the ADC, stressing that the persecution that has been thrown towards the NDC was a clear distraction as the main target is the ADC.

Atiku alleged that anti-democratic elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were working to ensure that the ADC is excluded from the ballot.

“We are fully aware of their plots. While they seek to sow confusion within the opposition, we know their real target is the ADC because it represents the most credible alternative,” he said.

Atiku called on Nigerians to reject any attempt to determine which opposition parties participate in the election.

“We therefore call on all Nigerians — not just ADC members and supporters — to rise in defense of democracy and reject any attempt by the ruling party to cherry-pick which opposition parties are permitted to participate in the next general election,” he said.

“Our message to the APC and the hooded men plotting in dark chambers is simple: you may conspire, but you will not succeed.

“If the APC is truly confident in its popularity, why is it so terrified of the ADC?”

He said he hoped the information available to him would not materialise but argued that recent political developments made such concerns difficult to dismiss.

“The pattern has become all too familiar. First, institutions that ought to be neutral are drawn into partisan contests,” he said.

“Then, frivolous litigations suddenly gain unusual momentum. Administrative powers are selectively deployed.

“Political pressure is mounted behind closed doors. Before long, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”

Atiku alleged that the ruling party has focused more on weakening the opposition than addressing the country’s economic and security challenges.

“The obsession with silencing the opposition has become so consuming that governance itself has taken a back seat,” he said.

“At a time when Nigerians are battling hunger, inflation, unemployment, insecurity, and collapsing purchasing power, those entrusted with public office appear preoccupied with political survival rather than national survival.”

Nigerians recall that ever since the official rejuvenation of the ADC in June/July of 2025, where the duo of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola emerged as the party’s chairman and secretary respectively, the party has not known moments of peaceful coexistence as litigations from corners unknown have sprang up in a bid to destabilize the party and deprive it of the opportunity of featuring on the ballot paper come 2027.

ADC, as a child of circumstance emerged from the rumbles of the litigation-ridden former main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where two factions have consistently remelained at loggerheads over leadership. While the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who is working assiduously to ensure the reelection of Bola Tinubu, leads one faction, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who became a defacto head, leads the other faction. In all, PDP appeared to have no direction, forcing many of its members to jump ship, thereby birthing the ADC, and to a large extent, the NDC, which is presenting Peter Obi as the presidential candidate, with former Kano governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as his running mate.

Sources also informed The Boss that the hasty reading and passage of the Electoral Act 2026 by the Godswill Akpabio-led National Assembly, with many great areas left unattended to, were also part of the grand design to deprive the ADC the constitutional rights of presenting candidates for the 2027 elections.

But both the ADC and the NDC has vowed that they would follow every process to ensure that the crackdown on opposition parties by the Tinubu administration comes to an abrupt end.

But beyond the intrigues, Nigerians are gearing up to participate fully in the forthcoming election with cross sections of the population either hailing Tinubu for his policies or knocking him for the untold hardship in the land.

Headline

South Africa Nothing Without Africa – MTN Boss, Mcebisi Jonas

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The MTN Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas, has condemned the ongoing anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa, describing it as a symptom of State failure being cynically exploited by politicians with no interest in genuine solutions.

The speech is seen as one of the most substantive interventions by a senior business figure into xenophobic crisis currently plaguing South Africa.

Delivered during the funeral service of Zimbabwean-born activist and public servant, Thokozani Damasane, Jonas’ words have sparked a wave of discussion across South African civil society.

“I was thinking, what is home to Damasane?” he said. “Because I understand, and I understood very early in life, that home is where humanity is. Home is about humanness. It is about the good of humanity and striving for the good of humanity.”

Thokozani Damasane was born and educated in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa during the post-apartheid transition period. Jonas described him as arriving “as an outcast” into a country still finding its post-liberation footing – and choosing, nonetheless, to commit himself entirely to its struggles and its people.

“He immersed himself deeply into the struggles, into the pains of South Africans, and he became one of us,” Jonas said.

“In Damasane’s strength, our strength as South Africa and South Africans is reflected. And in his weaknesses, our own weaknesses are reflected.”

Speaking further, Jonas blamed the state for the failure being witnessed, emphasising that if foreigners leave South Africa today, the country’s problems will still persist.

“Foreigners can leave tomorrow – inequality will be with us,” he told the congregation.

“Foreigners will leave tomorrow – unemployment will be with us. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our police will remain corrupt. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our politicians will still be concerned with one thing: being elected and re-elected.

“The problem is the failure of the state. The State doesn’t manage immigration. It doesn’t manage its borders. It doesn’t enforce
law enforcement. It doesn’t manage education. What are you expecting?”

Jonas argued that this failure created fertile ground for political manipulation. “When people feel the burn, they become vulnerable to politicians whose sole purpose is to be elected and re-elected. Some of them have no credibility whatsoever. But they lead marches and tell our people that the problem is not us – it is foreigners.”

Jonas recounted a conversation he had witnessed between Damasane and a young man who had challenged the right of foreigners to be in South Africa. Damasane’s response, Jonas said, had stayed with him ever since.

“Damasane said to this guy: Just wait fifteen or twenty years. You will also want to leave your country.”

Jonas told mourners those words now carry a weight Damasane may not have anticipated. “As I stand up today, I look at South Africa. The level of oppression and inequality, the level of exclusion of our people, the level of corruption, the betrayal of the dream of liberation – those words of Damasane ring very loud in my ears.”

South Africa is nothing without Africa

Jonas closed with a call for what he described as a return to “national consciousness” – one rooted in continental solidarity and economic interdependence rather than ethnic exclusion.

“We are a nation embedded in Africa,” he said. “And without Africa, our growth as a country – economically – our fortune is intertwined with the growth of Africa. South Africa is nothing without Africa. And Africa is nothing without South Africa.”

He also reframed the question of legacy and identity for Damasane’s children, who were present. “Sometimes this thing called meritocracy is measured in wealth. No. It is values, it is principles, it is integrity. And your father had all of that.”

“We cannot judge people by their origin,” he told mourners. “We cannot determine the legal status of people by their origin.”

Headline

NDC Rejects Court Ruling on Party’s Registration, Heads to Appeal Court

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Friday, vowed to challenge the judgment nullifying its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that it would exercise its constitutional right of appeal.

Reacting to the ruling on Thursday, the party’s spokesman, Osa Director, said the NDC was still awaiting the certified copy of the judgment before making a comprehensive statement on the court’s decision.

He, however, confirmed that the party had resolved to head to the appellate court.

“We are still waiting to obtain a copy of the judgment. After reading the comprehensive judgment, we will make a detailed statement,” he said.

The spokesman added: “For now, what is certain is that we will exercise our right of appeal.”

Insisting that the party would challenge the ruling, he said: “It is our constitutional right to appeal, and we intend to exercise that right.”

When asked specifically whether the NDC would appeal the judgment voiding its registration, the spokesman replied: “Yes, the party will appeal the case.”

The party’s reaction came shortly after a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, in a judgement that nullified its registration by INEC, a development that could have significant implications for the NDC’s participation in the country’s political process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The NDC, however, maintained that it would refrain from making further comments on the substance of the judgment until it had studied the full text of the court’s decision.

The party’s planned appeal is expected to set the stage for a fresh legal battle over its status and continued existence as a registered political party.