CYM accuses Makinde of ‘killing’ PDP in Oyo after INEC shuns Ibadan convention

A political bloc within the Oyo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Concerned Youth Movement (CYM), has declared that Governor Seyi Makinde has “killed and buried” the party in the state following the controversial national elective convention held in Ibadan over the weekend.

The group said Makinde’s actions – which they claim contributed to the absence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from observing the convention – have rendered the exercise “a futile jamboree” and “an early Christmas party in November.”

In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Laide Ajao, CYM argued that the PDP has effectively collapsed and urged party members with political ambitions ahead of the 2027 elections to defect to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

“The PDP has finished, died and was buried last weekend. Members with ambition should move ahead and dump the party,” the group said.

CYM also pointed to the absence of key PDP governors as evidence of deepening internal discord, noting that the governors of Osun and Taraba stayed away from the convention entirely. According to the group, the two governors who did attend – Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau – were reportedly unaware of the agenda to expel FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and others, and have since distanced themselves from the decision “engineered by Makinde.”

The group warned that INEC’s non-recognition of the convention poses grave legal consequences, insisting that any candidate emerging from the process cannot stand as a valid flagbearer in the 2027 general elections.

“As it stands, PDP cannot and will not present any candidate for the 2027 elections,” CYM stated. “PDP members should ask themselves: if Seyi Makinde were seeking a second term, would he have taken the same decisions?”

The group reiterated its call for PDP members to consider the ADC as a viable platform for their political aspirations, describing it as the only realistic pathway for those hoping to contest in 2027.