The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, was pictured participating in a supposed South-South People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Zonal Congress held in Calabar, Cross River State, on Saturday.
Wike, a former governor of Rivers State and a prominent figure in the party was seen casting his vote during the event.
However, the congress was overshadowed by the noticeable absence of key South-South PDP governors and party leaders. The governors of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, and Bayelsa states, all members of the PDP, did not attend the event. They also failed to send representatives or other party leaders from their respective states.
Apart from Wike, one of the few notable figures present was a former governor of Cross River State.
It can be recalled that the four governors had earlier issued a statement backing out of the supposed event.
The absence of the four sitting PDP governors from the zone has heightened speculations about internal divisions within the party, especially given the recent tensions surrounding the party’s leadership in the South-South.
Reacting to the development, the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) swiftly distanced itself from the event.
In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP clarified that it had not conducted any zonal congress in the South-South.
“The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a reported social gathering in Calabar, Cross River State, where the organizers falsely claimed it to be the South-South Zonal Congress of the PDP,” the statement read.
The NWC further emphasized that the congress had been officially postponed. “For the avoidance of doubt, the NWC, at its meeting on Thursday, February 20, 2025, in exercise of its powers under Section 29 (2)(b), pursuant to Section 31 (2)(c) and (j) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017), postponed the conduct of the South-South Zonal Congress from the earlier scheduled date of Saturday, February 22, 2025,” Ologunagba explained.
According to the party, the postponement was intended to allow for further consultations on critical issues affecting the smooth conduct of the congress in the zone.
