Turaki PDP Faction Speaks on Reconciling with Wike, Vows to Field Presidential Candidate
Fresh tension has emerged within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as rival blocs continue to disagree over the party’s position ahead of the next presidential election.
The faction aligned with Kabiru Turaki has insisted that the party must present a presidential candidate, even as another camp linked to Nyesom Wike reportedly favours support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on the growing crisis, the factional National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ini Ememobong, gave fresh insight into ongoing efforts to reconcile the divided camps within the opposition party.
Ememobong spoke during an appearance on Arise News programme The Morning Show, where he expressed cautious optimism that dialogue could still produce a resolution despite the sharp disagreements within the party.
The PDP has been battling internal divisions for months, with different power blocs pushing conflicting political strategies ahead of the next general election.
One faction, widely believed to be backed by Wike, is said to favour a political alignment that would not involve the PDP fielding a presidential candidate.
Instead, the group is reportedly inclined toward supporting Tinubu for a second term in office.
However, the Turaki-led faction has taken a different position. The group has vowed that the PDP must remain a competitive opposition party and must produce a credible candidate to challenge for the presidency.
Addressing the situation, Ememobong acknowledged that reconciliation talks may appear difficult given the current positions of both sides. Still, he maintained that discussions were ongoing and that the party leadership was listening to the voices of its members.
“Truth is that both hope and delusion are human emotions, and at the end of the day, it is the result that determines which was hope and which was delusion.
“So I can assure you that we may not endorse the President. You see what we are doing now is, when you are a leader, you are listening to the people you are leading in the circumstance that we are, we are delegates of power, and we are listening to the delegators who delegated the power to us to act.
“And at this point, the delegates of power have said, look, can we at least get to the table? When parties come to the table, you come with your reducible minimums. If there must be peace, one of the terms of the agreement we are going to take will be that will field candidates at all points.
“And about presidential candidates, we will provide a viable candidate. We are going[to the negotiation table] with an open mind for reconciliation, but that reconciliation must keep us as an opposition party.”
Ememobong stressed that while the party was willing to engage in negotiations to restore unity, the PDP must not abandon its core responsibility as a democratic opposition.
According to him, presenting candidates for elections at every level remains one of the minimum conditions his faction would insist on during reconciliation talks.
