25/03/2026
JUST IN: Wike’s PDP Faction Asks Ortom To Drop Ambition, Backs Anyanwu, Mohammed For Top Posts
By Fly Cable News
The crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensified on Tuesday as governors elected on the platform of the party distanced themselves from the alleged consensus selection of a national chairman and national secretary by a faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The governors insisted that the process would be challenged legally and reviewed ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for March 29–30.
Despite the resistance, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Abdulrahman Mohammed reportedly emerged as consensus candidates for the positions of National Secretary and National Chairman, respectively, under the arrangement backed by Wike.
Highly placed members of the Wike-backed National Caretaker Committee, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to speak publicly, disclosed that all geopolitical zones had reached agreements on consensus candidates for the party’s National Working Committee positions.
The insiders said the move was aimed at ensuring a smooth convention process.
According to a source within the Wike camp, the position of National Chairman was zoned to the North-Central, while the National Secretary position was zoned to the South.
Zonal leaders were reportedly directed to meet and agree on consensus candidates for all National Working Committee positions.
The source also disclosed that he emerged as the consensus candidate for the position of National Organising Secretary from the North-West.
The source explained that the North-West zone resolved to maintain the existing arrangement during its meeting.
“In the North-West, the zonal meeting confirmed that the status quo will be maintained. Sokoto retains the National Organising Secretary position, Katsina takes the National Youth Leader, while Kano takes over as Deputy Treasurer. Jigawa selected the Zonal Vice Chairman. All positions were agreed upon by consensus,” the source told The PUNCH.
He further revealed that the South-East retained the position of National Secretary in Imo State, where Senator Samuel Anyanwu emerged as the consensus candidate.
Other adjustments in the zone include Okechukwu Osuoha, formerly Deputy Legal Adviser, emerging as National Auditor, while Chidebere, the former South-East National Vice Chairman, became Deputy Public Secretary.
In the South-West, the positions were reportedly distributed as follows: Woman Leader to Oyo, Treasurer to Osun, Deputy Secretary to Ekiti, and Zonal Vice Chairman to Lagos.
In the North-East, Taraba was allocated the position of Deputy National Chairman (North), Bauchi the Publicity Secretary, Gombe the Deputy Woman Leader, and Borno the Deputy Financial Secretary, while Adamawa got the Zonal Vice Chairman slot.
For the South-South, the National Vice Chairman position was allocated to Rivers, Financial Secretary to Cross River, Deputy National Organising Secretary to Delta, Deputy Youth Leader to Akwa Ibom, and Zonal Vice Chairman to Edo.
A source who attended the North-Central caucus meeting disclosed that the zone agreed to present the Acting National Chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, as its consensus candidate for the top position.
According to the source, Wike reportedly appealed to former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and former Kogi State Deputy Governor Philip Salawu to step aside for Mohammed.
“The meeting concluded with the North-Central zone agreeing that it should produce the National Chairman,” the source said.
He added that religious considerations also played a role in the decision since the National Secretary position had been zoned to the South-East.
“They wanted the National Chairman to be a Muslim, anticipating that the person emerging would otherwise be a Christian,” the source explained.
When contacted, the Wike-backed PDP Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, neither confirmed nor denied the development but defended the consensus arrangement.
According to him, consensus is the most effective method for selecting party leaders.
“As far as we are concerned, we believe consensus is the best way to go in an effort to bring out candidates, whether party or primary,” he said.
“Once you have consensus, it means there’s consent of all stakeholders—the aspirants and the stakeholders—as opposed to imposition.”
He also noted that the approach saves time and resources while preventing internal conflicts.
“When you take away the election process, it saves a lot of time, resources, and animosity. So it is the best way to go, and the party is not wrong in adopting it,” he added.
