By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA
The crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new twist as the faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Friday dissolved the Board of Trustees (BoT) led by former Senate President Senator Adolphus Wabara, citing loss of credibility and moral authority.
The move followed the inauguration of a new Board of Trustees by the factional Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulrahman Muhammad, at a meeting hosted by Wike at his Life Camp official residence in Abuja.
In his address shortly before the meeting went into a closed door, Muhammad said the exercise was part of efforts to restore discipline, constitutional order and moral direction within the party, which, he lamented, had been eroded under the previous leadership.
The new BoT is expected to be unveiled at the end of the meeting.
He accused the dissolved Wabara-led BoT of losing “the moral balance expected of that noble institution”, noting that Wabara’s suspension by the Abia State Chapter of the party for alleged anti-party activities rendered his continued leadership “untenable”.
“The Board that was meant to be the moral compass of our party became divided and ineffective. The credibility of that leadership was heavily questioned, and its continued role in national advisory matters became impossible to sustain,” he said.
Muhammad also blamed the tenure of the ‘suspended’ National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, for what he described as the party’s moral decline and disregard for judicial authority.
He accused Damagum of protecting individuals who violated the party’s constitution, choosing “convenience over the rule of law”.
“When any political party begins to disregard its own constitution and laws, it loses the very soul that holds it together. This was the painful reality we faced,” he declared.
The Acting Chairman hailed the intervention of three concerned party members who sought judicial redress to “save the PDP from itself”, saying their action led to the recent Federal High Court judgement that paved the way for the reconstitution of the BoT.
“The court judgement was not an attack on the PDP; it was a reminder that no institution is greater than the law,” Muhammad noted, describing the decision as “a wake-up call to return to our roots and reawaken the values that once made the PDP the pride of Africa.”
He said the newly inaugurated BoT would serve as a “symbol of rebirth” and the “conscience and compass” of the PDP, adding that its members were chosen to uphold integrity and fairness rather than loyalty or factional interest.
“This is not a reward for loyalty; it is a sacred trust. Your voices must be voices of unity, your advice rooted in fairness, and your actions must inspire confidence in our collective future,” he stated.
The PDP chairman admitted that the party’s internal decay began when it jettisoned its zoning principle before the 2015 elections, allowing personal ambition to override equity. He said the new leadership was determined to rebuild the PDP on the foundations of transparency, justice, and adherence to court judgements.
“We will rebuild this party with transparency. We will respect court judgements and the rule of law. We will conduct our congresses with fairness and integrity. We will restore public trust and make the PDP once again the moral voice of Nigeria’s democracy,” he pledged.
Muhammad warned that the party would no longer hide under the excuse of “internal affairs” to justify impunity, insisting that party autonomy must operate within constitutional limits.
“Internal affairs must still operate under constitutional order. Party autonomy cannot mean lawlessness. We must reform or risk irrelevance,” he stated.
He also called for unity and reform, declaring, “Let history record that when the PDP stood at the edge of the precipice, men and women of goodwill rose to pull it back. Together, we can heal our party and restore the PDP as the true hope of Nigeria’s democratic future.”
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