A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, says the party’s national convention scheduled for November this year is critical to the corporate existence of the party.
He said the national convention is expected to determine and address all matters related to internal conflict, factionalization, lingering disputes, court cases, and infighting that have crippled the party in different zones and at the national level over the years.
Amb. Toyo, who stated this while answering questions during a political programme on a local radio station in Calabar, said that the party should not fail its teeming members who still have faith in it and its future endeavours.
“The PDP is a grassroots party that still has followers all over the country,” Toyo, a former member of the House of Representatives and a PDP governorship aspirant in 2023, explained.
She opined that the disunity and factions created in the party were caused by the ruling party in the country, blaming President Bola Tinubu for attempting to run a single-party system and using government apparatuses like the judiciary and INEC to destroy opposition parties.
Amb. Toyo said Tinubu’s efforts in this direction shall continually be resisted by people like her and other Nigerians, blaming opposition politicians who remain in their parties but support the president and play his script to destroy the unity of the country.
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Meanwhile, critical stakeholders of the PDP in Cross River State have called on the party’s leadership to take full responsibility for resolving the lingering disputes across its structures ahead of the September 27, 2025, state congress.
The charge was issued at the end of a consultative meeting convened by state and national executive members of the party alongside other stakeholders at the Metropolitan Hotel, Calabar.
In a communiqué, the stakeholders stressed that all outstanding differences within the various organs, chapters, and structures of the party must be urgently addressed.
“The leadership of the party in the state must take full responsibility,” the communiqué stated, warning that failure to embrace inclusiveness and reconciliation could weaken the PDP’s chances ahead of the 2027 general polls.
The meeting, attended by over 50 members physically and virtually, condemned attempts by some leaders to foment crisis through parallel meetings, particularly those allegedly being planned in Abuja.
“Anything short of an open, inclusive, and people-oriented approach will spell doom for the fortunes of the party in Cross River,” the stakeholders warned.
According to the communiqué, stakeholders also emphasized the need to abandon past approaches to leadership, adopt open and participatory processes, and prioritize the buy-in of members across the three senatorial districts.
The meeting resolved to adopt the national zoning template for the forthcoming congress, retaining current offices within the three senatorial districts, while mandating local leaders to carry out micro-zoning within their areas.
