NWC, BoT, National Caucus harmonise agenda
Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensified consultations at the weekend ahead of a make-or-break National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting today to affirm its November 2025 national convention and ratify the report of the zoning committee headed by the Bayelsa State governor, Senator Duoye Diri.
Three major organs of the party: the National Working Committee (NWC), the National Caucus and the Board of Trustees (BoT) scheduled separate meetings on Sunday in the bid to harmonise agenda for the 102nd NEC session of the PDP.
The high-level consultations preceding the NEC meeting included the one held on Saturday by the seven governors elected on its platform in Zamfara State, who promised to resist any attempt to scuttle the national convention scheduled for Ibadan, Oyo State in November.
The membership of the NWC, the organ that oversees the running of the party, includes the National Chairman, Deputy National Chairman (South), National Secretary, National Treasurer, National Youth Leader, and others.
On the other hand, members of the PDP national caucus include the national chairman, serving and former governors; serving and former principal officers of the National Assembly; governors, former governors, and members of the NWC and BoT.
The NEC meeting taking place in Abuja is believed by most leaders of the PDP as crucial and strategic for the leading opposition party because the zoning formula would shape the decisions of the party on power sharing between the North and the South, as well as among each of the six geopolitical zones.
The ratification of the zoning committee will define where the presidential candidate of the PDP will come from between the North and the South.
For other national offices, stakeholders in the zones usually micro-zone key positions among a cluster of states to engender balance and stability.
Last Thursday, a group of PDP leaders from the three zones in the southern part of the country: South-West, South-South and the South-East, resolved at the summit on zoning to forge a common front ahead of the NEC meeting.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, his Osun State counterpart, Senator Ademola Adeleke, and Governor Diri (Bayelsa) attended the meeting, while Governor Mbah of Enugu State was represented by his deputy.
The other PDP chieftains at the meeting included former Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, ex-Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun, former presidential candidate Ben Obi, and former deputy national chairman of PDP, Chief Olabode George.
But another set of PDP leaders from the South dissociated themselves from the meeting held in Lagos.
According to the timetable and schedule of activities of the PDP for the 2025 elective national convention, the main agenda of the NEC meeting taking place in Abuja is to review and adopt the report of the 44-member zoning committee.
Envisaging a seamless ratification of the zoning formula, the document also showed that from Tuesday, the PDP will commence zonal meetings to deliberate on national offices that are expected to be concluded on September 1.
As of Sunday, aside from the stance of the governors to go ahead with the convention, no other organs of the PDP had made further comments on developments.