Rift widens in Nigeria’s main opposition party as over 3,000 members head to Ibadan in Oyo State for a key leadership vote on 15 and 16 November. The meet-up has sparked sharp rows between rival groups, each claiming the upper hand.
One side follows acting leader Umar Damagum, backed by state governors, party elders, and local bosses. The other, driven by ex-Rivers governor Nyesom Wike, holds sway despite fewer numbers and has picked its own head, defying the governors outright.
A judge in Abuja last week blocked the event, saying the party skipped steps to alert election watchers. It also stopped monitors from joining in. Soon after, Damagum’s team sidelined three top aides for a month over claims of disloyalty. The next day, one of them, Samuel Anyanwu, hit back from Abuja, ousting Damagum and the whole board. They tapped a deputy from central Nigeria as stand-in chief.
Damagum’s group then won a quick ruling from an Oyo court to push ahead. Now, with governors and elders on board, they plan to roll out the votes, calling Anyanwu’s crew outlaws with no say. A party insider close to the plan said the turnout would top 3,000, mixing picked reps and big names like past officials from every region. “Claims of skipped local votes in some spots are nonsense—we’ve got plenty of heavyweights there anyway,” he added. He stressed the latest court nod trumps the earlier one, letting them pick fresh bosses.
Anyanwu fired back, vowing the whole thing would flop as a court slight, with no watchdogs to oversee it. “Even a governor can’t make it stick—the rules demand notice weeks ahead, and that’s missing,” he said. He insisted he’s still the key contact for such alerts.
Ex-Kaduna governor Ahmed Makarfi, an elder, left it to Damagum’s board to clear the air on whether it goes ahead.
A youth leader from Wike’s camp blamed Oyo’s governor Seyi Makinde for fanning the flames, linking it to his reported run for the top job in 2027. He urged Makinde to shelve personal aims and mend fences first, per the Abuja judge’s call to sort internal woes. “Pushing this now is just a holiday bash for his mates—not a real party vote,” he said. He slammed an older voice for backing Damagum, saying elders should stay neutral and heal divides, not pick sides. Without fixes, he warned, the party risks a leadership void or forced holdover, all while chasing poll dreams that need a solid base first.
He brushed off talk that Wike aims to sink the group for the ruling party’s gain, pointing fingers instead at those blocking local polls in key areas. The insider from Damagum’s side hoped talks this week would seal a path forward, with the vote key to steadying the ship under new faces.
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