2027: PDP Governors At Crossroads As Leadership Crisis Deepens

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are at a crossroads over their 2027 re-election bid as the party’s leadership crisis remains unresolved.

The worst affected are Governors Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), who are first-term governors.

Adeleke’s case appears more troubling, as the Osun State governorship election will be held in August 2026, way ahead of the 2027 general election.

Attempts by the three governors to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) were thwarted by the APC leadership and stakeholders in their states.

With the factionalisation of the PDP at the national level, the governors’ nomination forms for re-election in 2027 may not be processed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Recall that the PDP had broken into two factions with a parallel conflict leadership agenda.

A breakaway faction, loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has Abdulrahman Mohammed as its national chairman, while the mainstream PDP is chaired by Mr Kabiru Turaki, SAN.

While Turaki emerged from the disputed PDP national convention, held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15-16, Mohammed was named chairman by the Wike-backed faction days before the convention.

Attempts by the Wike-backed faction to push its leadership structure through INEC were turned down by the electoral body a few days ago.

The Turaki-led faction, backed by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has also not secured the confidence of INEC, which declined the invitation to monitor the Ibadan

Two separate court judgments of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had halted the convention shortly before the scheduled date.

In one of the judgements delivered by Justice James Omotosho, the court held that the PDP leadership breached its own constitution in the processes leading to the convention.

In the other judgment, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, the court stopped the convention based on a suit filed by a former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, complaining of being denied a nomination form.

But the Makinde-backed faction had secured an ex parte order of a high court in Ibadan, clearing the way for the convention to hold as scheduled.

Attempts by the two factions on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, to take control of the Abuja PDP national secretariat had turned violent, with Makinde and the Bauchi State GovernorBala Mohammed, tear-gassed by the police.

The two factions have been operating from separate locations as the national secretariat has been sealed up by the police.

2027: PDP Governors At Crossroads As Leadership Crisis Deepens is first published on The Whistler Newspaper