PDP leaders consider Saraki’s model for crisis resolution

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are reportedly considering a return to the reconciliation model earlier proposed by former Senate President Bukola Saraki to resolve the crisis that has polarised the party.

Sources in the party’s two factions said the renewed interest in the Saraki formula followed correspondence from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declining to recognise the Tanimu Turaki-led national working committee (NWC).

In a letter dated December 22 but made public yesterday, INEC told the party’s legal representatives, Akintayo Balogun & Co, that it could not recognise the Turaki-led NWC because the matter remained sub judice. The commission said it could not take any administrative action that might pre-empt the outcome of the ongoing legal proceedings.

The Turaki-led NWC is backed by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed.

The November convention that produced a new set of national officers followed a series of conflicting court rulings. While some Federal High Courts in Abuja issued orders restraining the PDP from holding the convention over alleged breaches of the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act, an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan cleared the party to proceed and directed INEC to monitor the exercise.

A rival faction opposed to the Ibadan convention, led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, later announced a parallel national working committee, board of trustees (BoT) and national executive committee (NEC).

INEC had summoned the two factions last week to a roundtable meeting, said to be aimed at finding a solution to the division, particularly as preparations begin for the 2026 FCT area council polls.

Against this backdrop, party sources said PDP leaders are increasingly wary of allowing the dispute to be resolved solely by the courts, a process they fear could further deepen the crisis by producing clear winners and losers.

“The next move is to return to the Saraki formula. As the former governor of Kwara State advised, we should not wait for the courts to deliver judgments in any of the cases, as that will only worsen the situation,” one party leader, who asked not to be named, said.

“We are engaging among ourselves and discussing ways to resolve the disagreements. That is the direction the leaders are heading, and we have learnt that Saraki and some others are already making efforts to bring the party together,” the source added.

Saraki, who previously chaired the party’s reconciliation committee, had advised PDP leaders to manage their affairs in a way that would eliminate the need for litigation, warning that prolonged court battles could stall the party’s progress and undermine its unity. He also cautioned against factionalisation, saying it would only play into the hands of the party’s opponents.

He urged party leaders to work towards an all-encompassing national convention, rather than the fractured one held in Ibadan, arguing that such a convention could address outstanding issues, review the party’s constitution and chart a clear path forward.

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