{"id":24469,"date":"2025-11-17T10:23:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T09:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=24469"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:23:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T09:23:53","slug":"jonathans-ex-minister-kabiru-turaki-elected-pdp-national-chairman-faces-early-test-over-wike-rift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/jonathans-ex-minister-kabiru-turaki-elected-pdp-national-chairman-faces-early-test-over-wike-rift\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan\u2019s Ex-Minister Kabiru Turaki Elected PDP National Chairman, Faces Early Test Over Wike Rift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ABUJA, Nigeria (FN)<\/strong> \u2014 Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, a former minister in the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has been elected national chairman of Nigeria\u2019s opposition Peoples Democratic Party, emerging as the sole candidate at a tense convention marked by internal disputes and legal challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, won with 1,516 delegate votes at the party\u2019s convention in Ibadan after his closest rival, former lawmaker Garuba Lado, withdrew. Party leaders from the North had earlier endorsed Turaki as a consensus candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his acceptance speech, Turaki vowed to restore internal discipline and rebuild the party\u2019s weakened national structure after years of infighting and defections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere will be no more impunity in the PDP,\u201d Turaki said, promising reforms ahead of the 2027 general elections. \u201cWe must return this party to its grassroots and to the values that first earned Nigerians\u2019 trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A Party Still Divided<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Turaki takes over at a time when the PDP is grappling with a deep internal rift, especially involving the faction loyal to Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State and a longtime power broker within the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wike\u2019s camp opposed the convention and questioned the zoning arrangements that paved the way for Turaki\u2019s emergence. Some of his allies demanded fresh congresses in several states and insisted that certain party offices remain in specific regions, arguing that established structures were being sidelined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the convention, Wike\u2019s allies filed legal actions attempting to halt the process, saying the party violated internal agreements. While the court cases did not stop the event, analysts say the dispute signals trouble for Turaki\u2019s incoming leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will the Wike Factor Undermine Turaki?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Political observers say the biggest threat to Turaki\u2019s tenure could come from Wike\u2019s influence and his widespread support base across several PDP state chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the new chairman fails to accommodate the Wike bloc, the PDP risks operating with parallel structures,\u201d said Abuja-based political analyst Chika Odili. \u201cThis is not a conflict he can ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wike has not publicly congratulated Turaki, fueling speculation of a prolonged standoff. His loyalists maintain significant influence in the party\u2019s southwest, south-south and parts of the north, creating the possibility of sustained pushback if reconciliation efforts fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A High-Stakes Road to 2027<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The PDP, once Nigeria\u2019s dominant political force, has struggled to regain national relevance after losing the presidency in 2015. The party\u2019s internal feuds, including the Wike-Atiku dispute during the last election cycle, weakened its national presence and contributed to electoral losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turaki\u2019s supporters argue his consensus victory offers a fresh opportunity to stabilize the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pro-reform group within the PDP hailed his election as a \u201crescue mission,\u201d saying the party must unify quickly or risk further decline ahead of the 2027 polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, analysts warn that without a strategic rapprochement with Wike\u2019s faction, the PDP could remain divided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTuraki\u2019s leadership will ultimately be judged by whether he can bring Wike back to the table,\u201d Odili said. \u201cIf not, the PDP may head into another election cycle fractured and weakened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Comes Next<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Turaki is expected to unveil a reform blueprint in the coming weeks, focusing on reconciliation, party discipline and rebuilding state chapters affected by past crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, the new chairman faces a delicate balancing act: asserting authority while negotiating with one of the party\u2019s most influential and unpredictable figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, a former minister in the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has been elected national chairman of Nigeria\u2019s opposition Peoples Democratic Party, emerging as the sole candidate at a tense convention marked by internal disputes and legal challenges. Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, won with 1,516 delegate votes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,3,1138],"tags":[1622,1620,270,263,1621,1623,40,1492,1619,248,1078],"class_list":["post-24469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-naija-news","category-politics","tag-2027-elections","tag-atiku","tag-elections","tag-fct-minister-nyesom-wike","tag-goodluck-johnathan","tag-national-convention","tag-nyesom-wike","tag-pdp","tag-pdp-chairman-turaki","tag-peoples-democratic-party-pdp","tag-wike"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PDP-Chairman-Turaki.png?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24473,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24469\/revisions\/24473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}