PDP in Deep Crisis: 40 Lawmakers, Two Governors Set to Defect — Opposition Coalition Sounds Alarm

Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is facing an internal storm, with 40 legislators and two governors reportedly set to exit the party in protest. The Nigeria Lawmakers Opposition Coalition made this bombshell revelation during a press briefing in Akokwa, led by its spokesman, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere.

Ugochinyere condemned what he described as an intentional sabotage of the party by its current leadership, saying, “Our founding fathers would be ashamed of what the PDP has become today.”

The coalition has demanded sweeping changes, including the immediate removal of Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, the expulsion of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and the dismissal of Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the PDP’s 2023 Imo governorship candidate.

Ugochinyere emphasized that the solution lies in appointing a credible national chairman from the North Central zone, which he said has been consistently sidelined in party affairs.

He harshly criticized Damagum for using divine justifications for his inaction. “Where was God when North Central was overlooked for the chairmanship? When court support went to APC defectors? Or when our structures were handed to non-loyalists?” he asked.

The coalition also raised questions about the PDP’s silence on Wike’s collaboration with the APC-led federal government, insisting such behavior is unacceptable for a member of the opposition.

Switching gears, Ugochinyere drew attention to the massive erosion threat in Ideato, particularly in the Umuechi-Urualla corridor, where homes, churches, and royal infrastructure are at risk. He thanked the federal and state authorities for initiating the N25 billion Umuchima erosion control project, but called for more targeted action in affected areas.

He recalled that an earlier N9 billion World Bank erosion intervention was mismanaged and ultimately abandoned under the previous state administration — a failure that has only worsened the environmental disaster in the area.

The crisis in the PDP, coupled with the urgent infrastructural challenges in communities like Ideato, paints a picture of a party and a polity at a crossroads.