A renewed rescue effort is gathering strength inside the Peoples Democratic Party as three influential figures, Nyesom Wike, Bukola Saraki and Sule Lamido, move to arrest the party’s deepening decline and restore unity before next year’s crucial elections.
The PDP has been locked in a damaging internal conflict for more than a year. Its structure has thinned out as six governors exited the party, five joining the APC, while Osun governor Ademola Adeleke is said to be under pressure from the Accord Party. The rift has also set off a chain of expulsions and counter-expulsions between rival factions, placing the party’s prospects in Ekiti and Osun at serious risk.
Saraki is now at the centre of a new strategy focused on creating a caretaker committee with members drawn from both feuding camps. If adopted, the panel would manage the party until a widely accepted national convention is held. This follows the troubled Ibadan convention that produced a new National Executive Committee led by Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu and is now entangled in court cases.
Saraki had earlier advised that a caretaker body was the only workable option but stayed away from the Ibadan gathering, warning that his presence would complicate matters. Sources familiar with the current talks say he has revived the proposal and begun reaching out to major stakeholders.
Wike, whose group rejects the outcome of the Ibadan event, and Lamido, who secured a court order stopping the convention, are said to be open to the caretaker arrangement. Stakeholders are expected to hold further meetings this week to firm up the plan.
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One senior figure said Saraki remains central to the reconciliation push and that his allies, along with supporters of Wike and Lamido, have made significant progress on the caretaker plan. Another insider explained that with the four-year tenure of the current National Working Committee ending on December 10, and with the Ibadan meeting facing legal questions, the party has little choice but to adopt a temporary leadership structure.
A PDP lawmaker also cautioned that the next ruling from the Federal High Court will likely hinge on pre-convention requirements that were not met, which could leave the party stranded unless a caretaker committee is installed without delay.
Allies of key leaders are now working quickly to secure agreement, describing the caretaker model as the most practical path out of the crisis. After the Ibadan meeting, Ambassador Umar Damagum handed over to Tanimu, yet the INEC website still records Damagum and Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Chairman and National Secretary, underscoring the confusion at the top of the party.
