By Oluwaseyi Adedotun
When the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convened its long-awaited 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja a couple of weeks ago, casual observers might have dismissed it as just another routine gathering.
But for veterans of Nigeria’s political terrain, this was no ordinary assembly. It was a statement of survival, a fragile rebirth for a party once dismissed as politically extinct.
Unlike the previous NEC sessions that collapsed into chaos, rancour and dramatic walkouts, the 102nd NEC meeting held firm.
For a political organisation battered by post-2023 recriminations, sabotage and bitter internal feuds, the very fact that the NEC convened and ended in one piece was extraordinary.
In Nigerian politics, where the optics could be as decisive as the outcomes, that survival was itself a victory. The PDP has always lived dangerously, walking the thin line between collapse and resurgence. Its history is fraught with crises that would have killed lesser parties.
In 2006, the “Third Term” saga nearly tore it apart. In 2014, the dramatic walkout of governors at the Eagle Square convention gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC). After the 2019 elections, leadership feuds once again paralysed its national secretariat.
The 2023 elections represented another low. The G-5 rebellion led by Nyesom Wike openly defied the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. The PDP lost not only at the federal level but also its claim to being Africa’s largest political party. Many analysts wrote its obituary.
Yet, the 102nd NEC showed that, true to form, the PDP retains a survival instinct. Each cycle of crisis has forced a reinvention. The party’s resilience lies not in the absence of fractures, but in its ability to patch them together enough to remain relevant.
The path to the 102nd NEC 2025 was strewn with landmines, explosive issues that could have sunk the party if mishandled. Three things stood out. The National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, became the lightning rod of factional anger.
A determined push to unseat him threatened a constitutional crisis, one that could have crippled the party’s organisational framework. Saraki’s committee diffused this by insisting on compromise, revalidating Anyanwu’s mandate, and avoiding a destabilising legal showdown.
Former Rivers governor and current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, loomed over the PDP like a storm cloud. His defiance in 2023 was still raw. His sympathisers within the PDP remained influential and outright confrontation risked another split.
Saraki’s strategy was containment, not confrontation, keeping Wike’s bloc engaged without letting it dominate until the amiability leading to the NEC.
Perhaps the most critical fault line was between PDP governors and the National Working Committee (NWC). Without their cooperation, no opposition party could stand.
Saraki recognised that APC’s strength in 2023 was rooted in the unity of its governors behind Bola Tinubu. He worked to rebuild consensus between PDP governors and the NWC, a task that paid off at the 102nd NEC when both camps spoke with rare unison.
The meeting did not just avoid implosion; it produced outcomes that could shape PDP’s future. Both the National Chairman and Secretary were affirmed in their positions, silencing rumours of imminent removal and ending months of uncertainty.
The NEC resolved to proceed with its convention plans, signalling organisational readiness rather than paralysis. For the first time since 2023, PDP governors spoke with one voice. This unity was described by Bauchi governor Bala Mohammed as “a new beginning.”
The gains trickled down. Disillusioned members, long weary of elite quarrels, began to see the PDP as a party once again capable of renewal.
National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, hailed the NEC as “a demonstration of internal democracy and resilience.”
Symbolically, the PDP showed it could still conduct orderly meetings. Beyond resolutions, the NEC carried emblematicweight: it proved the PDP was not condemned to irrelevance. Survival itself became a rallying point for members.
At the heart of this turnaround was Bukola Saraki. When he was tapped in the late 2023 to chair the reconciliation and strategy committee, many thought it a poisoned chalice. But his leadership style, consultative disposition, patience and strategic thinking became the stabilising force.
Saraki did not impose; he mediated. He did not crush dissent; he absorbed it. He struck balances between ambition and survival. In doing so, he revived PDP’s tradition of consensus and accommodation – the very traits that once made it Africa’s largest party.
This “Saraki Doctrine” offers a blueprint the PDP can institutionalise: dialogue over decrees, inclusion over exclusion, and prioritising survival above individual ambition.
Yet, even after the NEC, a fresh test emerged. A coalition led by Wike and other heavyweights released six preconditions for what they termed a “legitimate” national convention:
Conduct fresh congresses in Ebonyi and Anambra as mandated by court judgments. Hold a new South-East Zonal Congress immediately. Respect the outcome of the South-South Congress in Calabar, already upheld by courts.
Conduct Ekiti State LGA congresses promptly, in line with legal orders. Reject “micro-zoning” beyond the zoning formula adopted by NEC. Retain the National Chairmanship in the North-Central, consistent with the 2021 zoning scheme.
Signed by Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom, Ayo Fayose, Okezie Ikpeazu, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the communique, read by Ortom, warned that failure to comply would delegitimise the convention.
At first glance, these demands seemed divisive. Yet they reflected something else: engagement. Wike’s bloc has not abandoned PDP; it has staked terms for inclusion. That posturing, while confrontational, was also an admission that PDP was still worth salvaging.
What makes Wike’s demands more potent was their legal foundation. Many hinged on court judgments, Ebonyi, Anambra, Ekiti, and Calabar congresses. This highlightedhow judicial pronouncements had become decisive in PDP’s internal politics, sometimes more binding than NEC resolutions.
The danger is obvious: mishandling these court orders could invalidate a convention. But the opportunity is also clear: resolving them provides a structured path to harmony.
Zoning has always been PDP’s adhesive. From 1999, power rotation between North and South kept the party broadly balanced. Today, disputes over whether the chairmanship should remain in North-central or move elsewhere revive old ghosts.
Handled wisely, zoning can be the bridge to unity. Handled poorly, it can reopen fractures. The 102nd NEC managed to hold the line; the convention will be the real test.
PDP governors remain the party’s lifeblood, financiers, grassroots mobilisers, and power brokers. Their renewed alignment with the NWC is perhaps the single strongest indicator of a rebirth. If they maintain this collective responsibility, the PDP stands a chance of repositioning. If they splinter again, the party risks sliding back into irrelevance.
The NEC should be remembered not just for its resolutions but for its symbolism. It restored the idea that PDP is still a national party. Images of leaders seated together, communiques issued without rancour and governors speaking in unison carried psychological weight.
For grassroots members, symbolism matters. It told them their party was not finished. For the wider electorate, it suggested PDP could still be a credible opposition.
Yet the road ahead is treacherous. With Wike’s bloc pressing hard, and unresolved grievances lurking, the PDP must recognise that reconciliation is not an event but a continuum.
The Saraki blueprint must be institutionalised into a mechanism for harmonisation, a standing framework where grievances are absorbed and resolved without derailing the party.
Without such a mechanism, every congress, every convention risks reopening old wounds. With it, the PDP can transform friction into fuel for consolidation.
The NEC may not be perfect; it was a possibility. It marked a shift from paralysis to motion, from bitterness to fragile consensus. It showed that even in its weakest moment, the PDP could still hold together.
But the true test lies ahead. If leaders confront Wike’s demands with unity and institutionalised reconciliation, the November convention could become a milestone of rebirth. If not, the landmines could still explode.
What is undeniable is that the PDP is no longer writing its obituary. It has begun, tentatively yet resolutely, its slow march toward rebirth. And at the heart of this fragile revival is Saraki’s steady hand, a doctrine of dialogue, and the recognition that survival, in politics as in life, is the first step toward renewal.
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