HOW PDP CUT OFF ITS OWN GIANTS TO SAVE ITS FUTURE
By Emeka Amaefula
IBADAN EARTHQUAKE—-
HOW PDP CUT OFF ITS OWN GIANTS TO SAVE ITS FUTURE
On a calm November morning in Ibadan, beneath the towering domes of the University of Ibadan International Conference Centre, history was quietly waiting — then suddenly, it erupted.
Delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had gathered for what many assumed would be another familiar convention — filled with chants, speeches, and future promises. But from the moment they poured into the ancient city, something felt different. There was tension in the whispers. The air felt heavy — charged, like the silence before thunder.
And when lightning finally struck, it came in the form of a motion — bold, brutal, and unprecedented.
SEYI MAKINDE SETS THE TONE
Before the storm broke, the host — 2027 Presidential hopeful and Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde — delivered a welcome that felt less like protocol and more like prophecy “I want to welcome everyone to this convention — the resilient members of the PDP. Let me use this opportunity to welcome you to Ibadan, Oyo State.
We have fought a long stretch of battle to get to this point, but here we are. And by the grace of God, this convention will go down as the convention that brought a turn-around to the PDP nationally.”
Those words would prove to be more than rhetoric. They were a warning.
THE MOMENT THE AXE FELL
Then came Chief Olabode George, former National Vice Chairman (South) — elder, strategist, survivor of many battles. He rose slowly to address the delegates. The hall fell into a gripping silence.
Then the words that shook Nigerian politics: “For the future of this party, and in defence of its founding principles, we must cut off every branch that has poisoned the tree.”
The motion: Expel those whose actions had weakened and divided the party.
The names: shocking.
And those expelled included:Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON;Ayo Fayose; Senator Samuel Anyanwu;Hon. Umar Bature; Adeyemi Ajibade, SAN;Mohammed Abdulrahman; Senator Mao Ohuabunwa; Hon. Austine Nwachukwu;Abraham Amah;George Turner
and Chief Dan Orbih.
These were not small men. These were governors, ministers, party executives, power brokers — even the sitting Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. In seconds, pillars of the PDP were struck down.
The motion was seconded by Hon. Samaila Buga of Bauchi. The vote was swift, thunderous, almost surgical. Cheers collided with gasps. Power blocs that once dictated the direction of the PDP vanished in minutes. This was not discipline.
This was a purge.
An exorcism.
WHY THE PURGE HAPPENED
For years, the PDP had bled from within — defections, sabotage, parallel structures, open endorsements of rival parties, and the rebellion of the infamous G-5 governors. The 2023 general elections exposed every wound. The house was burning — and some of its own members were holding matches.
By 2025, elders concluded that the only way forward was amputation. Not negotiation.
The Ibadan Convention did not just tighten discipline.
It redefined loyalty.
IBADAN — WHERE HISTORY TURNS
The choice of Ibadan was no accident. It is a city of political baptisms — from Awolowo’s ideological battles to the rebirth of modern political blocs.
Now, Ibadan has added a new chapter to Nigerian political history: The day the PDP declared war on its own giants.
Delegates walked out like survivors of a storm — some jubilant, some terrified, others already plotting counterattacks. Because they knew: This was not the end of a battle.This was the beginning of a war.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR 2027
Observers now see four major outcomes on the horizon:. Legal warfare — court battles, injunctions, and counterclaims;. a new third force — a coalition of expelled heavyweights, Mass defections especially across Rivers, Ekiti, Imo, and the South-East, PDP rebirth or implosion — the party will either emerge stronger or tear itself apart forever
One phrase now echoes through every political camp: No one is too big to fall.
THE MOMENT AND THE MEMORY
History does not remember conventions.It remembers turning points.
What happened in Ibadan was more than punishment. It was survival instinct — a desperate bid to reclaim identity, ideology, and control.
Whether the PDP rises from this purge as a stronger, more unified force or collapses under the weight of its contradictions remains to be seen.
But one thing is already certain: The 2025 Ibadan Convention will be remembered as the day the PDP chose to live — even if it meant cutting off its own limbs.
– Emeka Amaefula
+234 (0)811 181 3069—–
