By Kolawole Ojebisi
A former Governor of Jigawa State and one-time Minister of foreign affairs, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has vowed that he will not attend meetings of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) until the party takes the bold step of expelling the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and some other people he referred to as “impostors”.
Lamido said this, on Wednesday, while justifying his absence from the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the opposition party, which was held, on Tuesday, in Abuja.
He described Wike’s continued presence in the PDP as a threat to the party’s peace and stability.
“Wike is a disaster. He is a product of the PDP, made relevant by the party, nurtured and celebrated by the party. But today, he turns around to destroy it.”
“I cannot sit in the same meeting with impostors. Until the party removes these people, I will not attend PDP meetings. I am still a loyal member, but I won’t dignify this rot.”
The ex-governor also faulted the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) for failing to expel Wike and his co-travellers, particularly Samuel Ortom.
“What exactly is the NWC afraid of?” he asked. Why hasn’t Wike been expelled? Why is Samuel Ortom still on the board of trustees after publicly endorsing Tinubu? These are fundamental breaches. If this party is to survive, it must cleanse itself.”
The crisis rocking the former ruling party prevented it from holding a NEC meeting within a year.
The last NEC meeting was held on April 18, 2024. Since then, repeated efforts to reconvene the party’s highest decision-making body had been frustrated by internal divisions and leadership wrangling.
However, after shifting the meeting schedule several times, the main opposition party eventually came together for deliberation on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
The meeting, which was supposed to be held at the PDP national secretariat in Wuse Zone 5, was relocated to its presidential campaign office, Legacy House in Maitama, following the sealing of the party’s headquarters on Monday by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
Tuesday’s meeting was attended by several PDP governors, party officials, members of the Board of Trustees (BoT), former governors, and National Assembly leaders.
These included Governors Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, Agbu Kefas of Taraba, Peter Mbah of Enugu, Ademola Adeleke of Osun, Douye Diri of Bayelsa, and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara.
Also in attendance were acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, Deputy National Chairman Taofeek Arapaja, Acting National Secretary Setonji Koshoedo, National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, BoT Chairman Adolphus Wabara, BoT Secretary Senator Ahmed Makarfi, and former governors Babangida Aliyu, Bukola Saraki, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Samuel Ortom and Ibrahim Shekarau.
Other key figures included Suleiman Kadade, Umar Bature, Josephine Anenih, Ben Obi, Jerry Gana, Bode George, Barrister Tanimu Turaki, Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, and the leader of the PDP Caucus in the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda.
The NEC is the highest decision-making organ of the PDP, comprising state governors, serving and former presidents, former vice-presidents, the chairman and secretary of the board of trustees (BoT), principal officers of the national assembly, all state chairpersons, members of the national working committee (NWC), former governors, and founding members, among others.
