The reconciliation talks between the two factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have hit the brickwalls after the Tanimu Turaki led group vowed yesterday that it would have nothing to do with tomorrow’s national convention planned by the Abdulrahman Muhammad /Nyesom Wike faction.
The Turaki group said although it remains open to reconciliation, it has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the recent judgement of the Court of Appeal which voided the November 2025 National Convention in Ibadan.
The National Executive Committee of the faction held an emergency meeting in Abuja yesterday to review its status.
Its National Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong told reporters at the end of the meeting that it was not aware of the national convention being planned by the rival side.
But Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike said the national convention would proceed as scheduled.
Ememobong said the Turaki faction was seeking peace in the interest of the party and its members who are interested in contesting elective offices in 2027.
Continuing, Ememobong said:
“But what we said is that the filing of this appeal does not inhibit the reconciliation processes. The moment agreeable terms are met, parties will withdraw their cases. I mean, courts are usually very happy when parties approach them for discontinuance or withdrawal. So that appeal has been filed and other subsequent legal actions have been taken to protect the position of the party.”
On the reconciliation talks, the spokesman said:
“We do know that reconciliation is a journey towards a destination and you measure it by movement. So, movement is being done along that line. The destination of reconciliation will be met and you can bear with me that we have a situation of negative peace at the moment, at least a cessation of hostility.
“You’re not finding both sides trading blames and hot tackles. You’re finding de-escalation in rhetoric, hurtful rhetoric and the rest. What is there is that the journey of reconciliation is on course. The bus has left the station, the train has left the station, but has it arrived at reconciliation? No. Has it passed some bus stations and train stations? The answer is yes.
“Do we want that in public? The answer is no, because we do not pretend that there are no people within and outside who do not want this peace to be. If we let them understand the milestones that we have achieved, it means they know the next bus or train station to wait for us.
“So it’s best that the next time you hear from us, you’ll hear that we have arrived at the destination. How we arrived, whether by helicopter, by plane, would become immaterial, provided it is legal.
“Remember that this reconciliation is made to strengthen the party and the party at this point is an opposition party, it’s not a ruling party. It is not to make the Peoples Democratic Party an appendage of any other party. It is made to strengthen it as an opposition party and a party aligning with the disposition and interest of Nigerians, which is the provision of an alternative to the ruling party.
“So time is clearly an issue and both parties are working along with time as a condition. Irrespective of what both parties are doing independently on their own, it doesn’t affect the reconciliation. When the reconciliation happens eventually, the terms of the reconciliation will determine whether what was done and the things that were done have reached the destination.
On the alleged uncompromising stance of the other faction, Ememobong said: “like I said, negotiation is a destination and a journey. At the point where negotiation begins, you’ll see that people come to negotiations with hard-line positions. But the beauty of negotiation is in the ceding of grounds and time is a critical element in negotiation.
He added: “ But we will not begin to deconstruct that because that would be an inconvenient truth. And we cannot be saying those inconvenient truths at these points in public.
“Those are things we are discussing together. It’s like having a wife and someone comes to claim your wife. The wife knows whose wife she is.
“My people say that the owner of a thing does not drag it too much. If you see our disposition, it is because at the end, we hope that we can get to an agreeable situation so that our people can find a solid political platform to run. Let me tell you, we have been speaking against the concept of mutually assured destruction.
“People across the board do know that unless we come to a point of agreement, people running for elections will not be sure of the platforms they are running with. And that is what we want to avoid. We are clearly speaking against mutually assured destruction.”
Addressing the NEC meeting earlier, Chairman of the National Working Committee, Alhaji Turaki (SAN) said “all hope is not lost” in reconciling the two factions.
He said: “It’s also important for me to inform us that every conceivable effort is being made by the leadership to ensure that PDP is on the ballot in all the elections in 2027.
“It’s also my pleasure to inform us also that the leadership is assiduously working round the clock to ensure that the PDP remains a veritable platform for all our members wishing to contest elections, both in 2027 and beyond. We feel that to whom much is given, much is expected.
“For us, all hope is not lost. Indeed, no hope is lost. We must therefore beat our chest and be very proud that PDP is the only party in Nigeria that belongs to Nigerian people.
“Nobody and no group of people can stand up and say, this is our party. We have lost former presidents, we’ve lost former vice presidents, serving and former governors and members of the National Assembly, but that has not affected the survival of this party in any way. So, PDP will still continue to exist by the special grace of God because PDP has become an institution as far as democracy in Nigeria is concerned.”
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde was not at the meeting.
He reportedly sent his apologies.
PDP national convention ‘ll hold as scheduled, Wike insists; group opts for consensus
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