PDP insists on launching PCC, says Wike working for Tinubu, not dictating party’s affairs

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gave a surprise position on Monday, insisting that its presidential candidate, Senator Sandy Ojang Onor, would contest the January 16, 2027 poll, no matter the consequences of ongoing developments within the polity.

This came days after both the PDP’s national leader and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Mr Nyesom Wike, and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) officially confirmed Wike’s backing for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

Tinubu had named Wike to his revised Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) list on Tuesday, 13 October 2026.

The PDP leader and former governor of Rivers State, was specifically appointed campaign coordinator for Rivers state and the FCT, further sealing the minister’s public declaration to back Tinubu on the grounds that the PDP had not been in a good standing to win the presidential election.

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However, with about 81 (11.7 weeks) days to the presidential election, the PDP said it had not backed out of the poll or aligned with Wike’s decision back Tinubu because according to the party, “Wike is an appointee of the President Tinubu and he is merely doing his job as an appointee by supporting his boss.”

Responding to inquiries by the Nigerian Tribune on Monday, the National Publicity Secretary, Honourable Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, claimed that contrary to the public perception that the PDP as a party had settled for Tinubu, it was indeed planning to inaugurate its own PCC soon.

Mohammed disclosed that the names of the members of the PCC were being carefully computed for inauguration to enable the PDP to begin its campaigns ahead of the elections.

He argued that it was wrong for anyone to assume that since Wike was backing Tinubu, it automatically meant that the PDP would not contest the presidential poll.