ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Emmanuel Ogidi, says the party remains hopeful of overcoming its internal turmoil despite ongoing defections and legal battles.
Ogidi, who serves as the caretaker chairman of the PDP in the South-South geopolitical zone, said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday that the opposition party is fighting forces undermining democratic values.
“We are fighting a system that is trying to destroy democracy,” he said.
“There is hope for democracy because PDP is the face of the opposition. PDP stands for democracy.”
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The PDP has been embroiled in a deepening crisis that has led to mass resignations. Among the latest to quit is former National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan, who stepped down on December 6.
He is expected to formally join the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the coalition formed earlier in June.
Tensions within the party intensified on November 15 when a group of PDP elders, amid a series of conflicting court orders, resolved to proceed with the party’s elective convention in Ibadan, Oyo State. Governor Seyi Makinde hosted the meeting.
The run-up to the convention featured conflicting decisions from the courts. On November 14, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court ordered the suspension of the convention mirroring a similar order earlier issued by Justice James Omotosho of the same court.
However, later that same day at 2:30 pm, Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court issued a counter-ruling permitting the convention to proceed and directing INEC to supervise the exercise.