- S’south, S’east party chiefs reject Diri/Makinde stakeholders Lagos meeting decisions
The proposed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention is being threatened by a deep-seated rift among its leaders.
It is over the zoning of party offices and the 2027 presidential ticket, it was learnt yesterday.
The November 15 and 16 elective convention is scheduled for Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
A 110-member National Convention Committee headed by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has been inaugurated by the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum.
Although the mood in the opposition party tilts towards the zoning of the presidential slot to the South, there is division among leaders from the three geopolitical zones over which zone should produce the candidate.
At the PDP Southern Zoning Consultative Summit in Lagos convened by Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, leaders from the South resolved to propose a formula for the micro-zoning of the party offices and the presidential ticket among the three geo-political regions – Southeast, Southsouth and Southwest – at the next NEC meeting.
However, some Southsouth and Southeast leaders are kicking against the plan by the Diri/Makinde group.
The group of Southsouth and Southeast leaders is made up of state chairmen, serving and former lawmakers and other party elders.
They accused those behind the micro-zoning plan of harbouring the agenda of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s return or for Makinde to contest for President.
Sources explained that the group may organise a parallel convention if the rift is not properly resolved.
‘We are committed to micro-zoning’
Makinde, who spoke with reporters after the meeting, said micro-zoning of the presidential slot was on the agenda, adding that the outcome of the parley and further consultations would be forwarded to the NEC for consideration.
He noted the objection to the Lagos meeting by some chieftains, saying that it is normal in a democracy.
Makinde said: “We just finished the consultative meeting of the PDP Zoning Committee for the South, and nothing should stop us from consulting.
“Democracy is about the minority having its say and the majority having its way.
“So, we’re democrats. The South has taken far-reaching decisions, and in the days ahead, wider consultations will also take place.”
The governor said those saying that PDP is either dead or has become a carcass should pull the brake, stressing that PDP serving governors, elders and leaders, including the former Senate President and BoT chairman (Adolphus Wabara), have reiterated their commitment to its survival.
Makinde added: “They are all here and committed to PDP taking back its rightful position in Nigeria.
“So, in the days ahead, some of the things discussed here, you’ll see them in place.”
The governor, who debunked the allegation of exclusion, said: “Governor Adeleke was here. He came back into this country, I believe, this morning, and went straight to Osogbo to address some governance issues. But he said whatever we decide, he is with us.
“Governor Diri is here. Governor Peter Mbah, who couldn’t make it physically, sent the deputy governor. You have the chairman of our board of trustees here.
“You also have no fewer than 12 of the 17 members of the zoning committee from the South here.
“It is one per state. So, you have 12 states here. You have in each zone, you have House of Representatives members here, you have senators from each zone in the South, the three zones.
“You have BoT members from the three zones in the South. So, yes, I won’t say maybe, the organisers will score 100 per cent. You don’t score 100 per cent in politics.”
Makinde said consultation is a continuum, assuring that the Southern PDP leaders would reach out and engage more members to drive a consensus.
He stressed: “We’re trying to get all stakeholders, all tendencies in the PDP together so that we can give a credible alternative to Nigerians in the years ahead.”
Makinde, however, clarified that the decision of the Southern PDP Zoning Summit is not final, stressing that it would be subject to ratification by NEC.
He said: “This consultative meeting is not statutory in the constitution of PDP. But democracy is inclusivity, reaching out and ensuring that all stakeholders are carried along, which is what we’ve done today.
“NEC is on Monday. Today is Thursday. You will definitely have a decision.”
‘I won’t be dragged into gutters by low people’
Makinde clarified that no chieftain has been picked from the South as an anointed presidential candidate for 2027.
He said: “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 that you’re trying to do will fall flat.
“So, our efforts right now are directed towards having a viral and united PDP that Nigerians will be proud of and again they will believe in.”
Makinde took exception to party members from the South who attacked the organisers of the summit.
He said: “Personally, when people go low, or they go into the gutters, I don’t go with them.”
However, he said all stakeholders would be engaged to make contributions.
He added:” We will reach out to them. I mean, that is democracy. We will reach out to them. 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. We want to give a formidable PDP to Nigerians. In Oyo, they showed last Saturday that PDP is not dead.
“In most other places of the 12 states, PDP came second in each of those states. It’s some indication to us that if we continue to work hard, if we continue to strive hard, if we continue to bring our people together, we will get to a point where Nigerians will really start listening to us.”
Chinda: summit resolution can’t stand
Spokesman of the Southsouth/Southeast leaders’ group and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, disowned the Lagos meeting.
He insisted that many stakeholders from the South were not consulted.
He said the lack of wide consultation and exclusion of many stakeholders had eroded the legitimacy of the meeting.
Chinda, who protested being sidelined by the organisers, said the meeting was divisive and unconstitutional.
He told reporters in Abuja that any party meeting where zoning, power rotation and distribution of offices are to be discussed should be all-inclusive.
Chinda said the meeting has brazenly disregarded the statutory organs of the party and violated the criteria of inclusivity of democratic participation.
He said: “We dismiss the resolution and outcome of the meeting. It is not binding and not reflective of the opinion of the generality of stakeholders.”
Chinda said any decision reached in secrecy and seclusion cannot be consensus-driven, adding that it would be resisted in accordance with the constitution of the party.
He urged members of the party to disregard the outcome.
State chairmen reject summit
Also, some party leaders, including state chairmen, former governors, federal lawmakers, serving and former members of the National Working Committee (NWC), dissociated themselves from the meeting.
They said: “Any resolution, communique, or outcome purportedly emanating from this meeting is neither binding nor reflective of the collective will and aspirations of the PDP family across Southern Nigeria.”
They also said in a statement that “decisions reached in secrecy and exclusion cannot and shall not assume the authority of consensus.”
Signatories to the statement were state chairmen – Austin Nwachukwu (Imo), Abraham Amah ( Abia), Venatius Ikem (Cross River), Aniekan Akpan (Akwa Ibom) and Aaron Chukwuemeka (Rivers).
Other signatories are National Vice Chairman (Southeast), Chidiebere Goodluck, Senators Igwe Nwagu, Mao Ohuabunwa, George Sekibo, Mike Ama Nnachi, former National Secretary, Rt Onwe S. Onwe, Deputy National Legal Adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha, and former Ebonyi State Legal Adviser, Mudi Erhenede.
The statement titled: “Re: Purported Meeting of PDP Southern Zoning Consultative Summit,” reads in part: “The attention of the undersigned state Chairmen of the PDP from the South and some critical stakeholders has been drawn to a meeting ‘nichodimously’ summoned in Lagos today 21st August 2025 by some persons purporting to do so on behalf of PDP Members of the South tagged: ‘PDP Southern Zoning Consultative Summit’ convened by the Administrative Secretary, Zoning Committee of the PDP at the behest of the Chairman Zoning Committee, H.E Senator Duoye Dirii, at the Legend Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
“The said meeting, tagged ‘a summit’, was allegedly convened in the name of the three geo-political zones of Southern Nigeria — Southeast, Southsouth, and Southwest.
“It is highly regrettable and indeed, deeply disturbing that such a meeting was convened without the courtesy of inviting state chairmen from the Southeast and Southsouth, as well as the duly elected National Secretary and Deputy National Legal Adviser of our great party.
“Even more troubling is the inexplicable exclusion of several national officers, eminent leaders, and critical stakeholders of the PDP.
“Shockingly, the Minority Leader in the National Assembly and other principal officers of our party from the Southsouth and Southeast were also deliberately sidelined and denied participation in a meeting where such far-reaching and sensitive decisions on zoning, power rotation, and political equity are to be discussed.
“Equally concerning is the deliberate omission of most former governors from the Southeast and Southsouth, who, by every standard of history, pedigree, and institutional memory, remain critical stakeholders in any conversation about the future direction of our party.
“Such a brazen disregard for established structures and statutory organs of the PDP not only offends the spirit of collective decision-making but also risks undermining the very foundation upon which our party was built.
“The PDP, since its inception, has been anchored on the values of inclusivity, equity, consultation, and collective responsibility.
“Any process that deliberately sidelines key stakeholders, ignores the legitimate authority of national officers, and excludes elected leaders and ranking lawmakers erodes trust, fuels division, and threatens party cohesion at a time when unity is most needed.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we categorically dismiss any resolutions, communiqués, or outcomes purportedly emanating from this meeting as neither binding on, nor reflective of, the collective will and aspirations of the PDP family across Southern Nigeria.”
“Decisions reached in secrecy and exclusion cannot and shall not assume the authority of consensus.”
