Ibadan comes alive as PDP opens 2025 national convention amid leadership crisis

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday kicked off its highly anticipated 2025 Elective National Convention at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan, drawing thousands of party delegates and leaders despite ongoing internal disputes.

The two-day convention, tagged #Ibadan2025, is expected to produce a new National Working Committee (NWC), including a National Chairman, who will lead the party into the 2027 general elections.

According to a statement posted on the party’s official X account by Babangida Umar, over 3,000 delegates, governors, National Executive Committee members, Board of Trustees (BoT) members, and stakeholders from across the 36 states and the FCT converged on the Oyo State capital for the event.

The convention comes after weeks of tension marked by factional rivalry, legal tussles, and attempts to halt the exercise. Despite the disputes, party leaders hailed Ibadan as a fitting host, recalling its historic role in the PDP’s landmark 1998 Jos convention.

BoT Disowns Reconciliation Report, Backs Convention

Amid the convention’s fanfare, the PDP’s Board of Trustees moved quickly to quell fresh controversy after a leaked report from its reconciliation committee recommended suspending the convention and setting up a caretaker committee.

The report – signed by a six-member committee chaired by Ambassador Hassan Adamu – had been intended to broker peace between the party’s two rival factions led by Acting National Chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed and substantive National Chairman Umar Damagum. Each faction enjoys the backing of different power blocs, with the Damagum group supported by PDP governors, while the Abdulrahman faction is aligned with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

PDP convention delegates

In a statement on Saturday, BoT Chairman Adolphus Wabara rejected the leaked report, clarifying that it had not been adopted and therefore did not represent the position of the board.

“The content of the said report is not and does not represent the official position of the Board,” the statement read. “Having not been considered or adopted by the BoT, it cannot in any form be regarded as the position of the Board.”

Wabara reaffirmed the BoT’s full support for the Ibadan convention, citing the Supreme Court’s emphasis on party supremacy in conducting internal affairs.

The board also dismissed the suggestion of a caretaker committee, insisting that the elective convention, scheduled for November 15–16, remains the legitimate path for choosing new party leaders.

With the party’s top advisory organ firmly backing the convention, the PDP leadership hopes to project unity as it prepares to elect a new team and strategise for 2027.

Further updates from the convention are expected as proceedings continue in Ibadan.