The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to sanction any of its governors or elected officials found to be supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second-term bid ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, made the declaration during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday following the PDP’s first National Working Committee (NWC) meeting of the year.
Damagum cited the actions of some PDP leaders—most notably Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno and Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC)—as evidence of growing disloyalty. He emphasized that the party would no longer tolerate acts of betrayal from within.
The NWC, according to Damagum, has adopted the recommendations of the PDP Governors’ Forum meeting held in Ibadan and fixed the party’s next National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting for May 27.
Responding to questions on recent defections to the APC, Damagum accused the ruling party of using coercion, intimidation, and inducement to lure PDP members. “They [APC] can coerce, cajole, and intimidate our members into joining them. But when the time comes, Nigerians will respond to their actions at the ballot box. It has happened before, and it will happen again,” he said.
He continued: “The parameters for a public revolt are already in place. This government has shown a blatant insensitivity to the needs and suffering of Nigerians.”
Damagum also revealed that the PDP has dissolved its structures in Delta State following the defection of key members and has instructed the South South zonal caretaker committee to oversee the party’s affairs in the interim. “A new caretaker committee will be constituted shortly,” he added.
Furthermore, the party has mandated its national legal adviser to initiate legal proceedings aimed at reclaiming mandates lost through defection. “The Electoral Act is clear: once you leave your party, you must relinquish the position you hold under its platform. We will enforce that,” Damagum stressed.
He called on party loyalists to remain steadfast and assured them that the PDP was committed to restoring its lost grounds ahead of the next electoral cycle.
