ABUJA (FN), Nigeria\u2019s Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike declared Sunday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has no factions, urging defectors to return under a \u201csoft landing\u201d arrangement. Speaking at the party\u2019s 10th Elective National Convention, Wike said loyal members had reclaimed the PDP after years of internal disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement drew mixed reactions across Nigeria. PDP\u2019s National Working Committee welcomed the call, with Wike urging reconciliation committees to reach out to aggrieved members. Abdulrahman Muhammed, chairman of the Wike-aligned faction, rejected merger talks with the African Democratic Congress, insisting PDP must preserve its identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On social media, supporters hailed Wike\u2019s offer as a step toward unity, while critics argued it rewards opportunism. \u201cDefections weaken democracy,\u201d one user wrote on X. \u201cWhy should defectors be welcomed back without accountability?\u201d Others said reconciliation was necessary if PDP hopes to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts said the conciliatory tone reflects PDP\u2019s urgent need to rebuild credibility ahead of the elections. Civil society groups warned that repeated defections erode ideological stability, while academics noted that party-switching has long shaped Nigeria\u2019s political culture, citing precedents dating back to the 1951 NCNC defections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether defectors accept Wike\u2019s offer may determine the PDP\u2019s ability to reassert itself as Nigeria\u2019s main opposition force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ABUJA (FN), Nigeria\u2019s Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike declared Sunday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has no factions, urging defectors to return under a \u201csoft landing\u201d arrangement. Speaking at the party\u2019s 10th Elective National Convention, Wike said loyal members had reclaimed the PDP after years of internal disputes. The statement drew mixed reactions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":28956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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}},"categories":[3699,2,2096,776,4,478,458,3,1138],"tags":[1622,12344,2647,12341,564,1465,40,12347,12342,1492,12343,2366,12349],"class_list":["post-28952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-business","category-economics","category-educational","category-featured","category-financial","category-legal","category-naija-news","category-politics","tag-2027-elections","tag-abuja-convention","tag-apc","tag-defections","tag-nigeria-politics","tag-nigerian-democracy","tag-nyesom-wike","tag-party-switching","tag-party-unity","tag-pdp","tag-political-reconciliation","tag-social-media-debate","tag-stakeholder-reactions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Wike-PDP-591x340-1.webp?fit=591%2C340&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28952","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\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28957,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28952\/revisions\/28957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}