Wike, Fayose, 9 others get PDP expulsion certificates

ABUJA—People’s Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, formally dispatched expulsion certificates to 11 prominent politicians, including former governors Nyesom Wike and Ayodele Fayose, in what the party described as a decisive move to sanitise its ranks, ahead of the 2027 elections.

The development was announced at a post-meeting briefing held after the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, session in Abuja.

The National Chairman, Kabiru Turaki, SAN, who addressed journalists, said the decision highlighted the party’s resolve to enforce discipline and end prolonged internal sabotage.

He said the briefing followed a review meeting of the new NWC, held to assess party operations, ongoing primaries, legal disputes, and handover notes from the previous leadership.

Turaki disclosed that the expulsion certificates had already been sent via courier to the affected individuals, including Wike, Fayose, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, Umaru Bature, Kamarudeen Ajibade (SAN), Abdurahman Muhammad, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah Nnanna, George Turna and Dan Orbih.

“They have been expelled. They remain expelled. We have now certified their expulsion, and these certificates have been sent to them,” he said.

He added that the action was also meant to formally notify INEC, the police, DSS, NSCDC and other institutions that the affected individuals were no longer PDP members.

“Very soon, members of the society will be informed via proper disclaimers that any person, henceforth, who decides to do business with them, any or all of them (in the name of the PDP), does so at his or her own risk,” Turaki stated.

On the party’s internal processes, the chairman confirmed that the NWC had reviewed and approved the congresses in Osun State conducted to select ad hoc delegates.

He also affirmed that the Osun governorship primary was proceeding smoothly, stressing that Senator Ademola Adeleke remained a member of the party and one of the aspirants.

“As I speak to you now, primaries are ongoing… Governor Adeleke’s name is one of the aspirants vying for the ticket,” he said.

Turaki noted that although a resignation letter purporting to be from the Osun Governor Senator Ademola Adeleke, surfaced online, no official communication had been received by the NWC.

The chairman reiterated that the strength of the PDP did not lie in individual political officeholders but in the loyalty of its base.

Our power, our strength, is not in who are members of the National Assembly or who are the governors of our party. It is in the people, and that is why the PDP is the people’s party,” he said.

He also addressed reports of former Governors Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who were recently nominated for ambassadorial positions, stating that the party had not received any formal notice from them.

“If they come to us, we will certainly consider it on its merit… but for now, we have not received any communication,” he noted.

Earlier in his briefing, Turaki delivered a sharp assessment of national security under the APC-led federal government, calling for an overhaul of the country’s security architecture.

“Nigerians are not safe on the streets, in their workplaces, on the farms, in the markets or in their homes. Every citizen lives and walks in perpetual fear. That must change,” he said.

He insisted that governors could not be labelled chief security officers when they had no operational control over security agencies.

The chairman also confirmed that the NWC had examined legal cases involving the party, including those challenging the closure of its offices at Legacy House and Wadata Plaza, expressing confidence in the party’s legal position.

Turaki said the new NWC had begun painstakingly reviewing handover notes from the outgoing executives to ensure continuity and avoid administrative gaps.

He expressed confidence in the party’s readiness to provide a credible alternative in 2027.

“We are now prepared to be saddled with the responsibility of performing our functions as the leading opposition party in Nigeria,” he said.

You can’t defend democracy abroad, undermine it at home

Meanwhile, the party has asked President Bola Tinubu to apply the same democratic standards he purportedly championed in Guinea-Bissau to Nigeria’s domestic political environment.

The opposition party said the President cannot position himself as a defender of democracy abroad, while tolerating practices at home that allegedly weakened Nigeria’s democratic space.

In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, PDP reacted to reports that President Tinubu granted asylum and protection to Mr. Fernando Dia Da Costa, the opposition presidential candidate in the recently concluded Guinea-Bissau’s election.

Citing information attributed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, and his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Alkasim Abdulkadir, the PDP said the move was presented as a measure to shield Da Costa from threats to his life and reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to regional stability.

“The decision was taken to shield Mr. Da Costa from imminent threats to his life, safeguard the democratic aspirations of the people of Guinea-Bissau, and reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to regional peace, stability, and conflict de-escalation in the sub-region,” the party noted.

While acknowledging the intervention as a positive step for peace and democracy in West Africa, the PDP said President Tinubu must demonstrate the same commitment within Nigeria.

“The PDP urges President Tinubu to apply the same democratic principles at home. This includes checking and curtailing the activities of anti-democratic forces within his cabinet and political machinery, who openly orchestrate, fund, and engineer crises in major opposition parties,” the party said.

PDP argued that although the President was not expected to assist opposition parties, he had a constitutional responsibility to ensure that Nigeria’s political arena remained free, competitive, and devoid of coercive tactics.

It accused unnamed actors within the ruling party of allegedly coercing elected officials to defect and sponsor internal crises in opposition parties.

The party added: “Currently, this space is being constricted through coercion of elected officials to defect to the ruling party and the sponsorship of crises in opposition parties.”

It said the same philosophical principles guiding Nigeria’s foreign intervention should shape the President’s domestic conduct, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could drift toward a one-party state without decisive action.

“The philosophical underpinning that catalysed Nigeria’s intervention in Guinea-Bissau should also guide the President’s conduct domestically to safeguard Nigeria’s electoral democracy from decline and prevent the slide toward a one-party state,” it said further.

PDP urged the President to act promptly, arguing that credibility in defending democracy abroad must begin with strengthening it at home.

“The President must act promptly in defence of democracy in Nigeria. He cannot present himself as a defender of democracy in the sub-region while enabling anti-democratic practices at home that undermine democratic institutions and processes,” PDP stated.

culled from vanguard.