2027: With God on our side, victory is certain — Turaki-led PDP

…says we are prepared to fight till very end

The Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Dr Tanimu Turaki, has said that it is certain that God will deliver victory to it through a favourable judicial pronouncement in the festering leadership crisis in the party.

The faction confirmed on Friday that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) denied it access codes to upload the names of candidates for the 2027 polls, but said it had gone ahead to submit the names of the candidates manually because it was banking on God for victory.

It also said it had appealed the latest judgement of an Abuja Federal High Court (FHC), which denied the faction recognition and is now awaiting the intervention of the Court of Appeal.

Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, berated the current leadership of INEC under Professor Joash Amupitan over alleged “impartiality” by taking decisions in favour of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP chaired by Honourable Abdulrahman Mohammed while there were pending appeals in court.

The camp also accused INEC of pandering to the desires of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to frustrate the opposition, adding that the commission’s alleged impartiality in the PDP’s leadership crisis was tailored to achieve the aims of the APC.

Ememobong stated, “The present leadership of INEC must therefore appreciate that public confidence is the foundation upon which electoral legitimacy rests. When citizens lose confidence in the impartiality of the electoral umpire, elections inevitably lose credibility. It is on record that this chairman is the most disparaged before an election- up to the point where his most popular photo on social media is that with a cap bearing the insignia of the President.

“While this photo may be AI-generated, the popularity of its use indicates the wide acceptability of his clear partisanship.

“It is against this background that we convened this press conference.

Any responsible electoral management body confronted with conflicting judicial pronouncements and a pending appeal before the Court of Appeal would exercise restraint pending the final determination of the issues. Such caution would protect both the integrity of the electoral process and the rights of all parties.”

The INWC advised INEC against publishing PDP candidates’ names other than those it submitted to the Commission, describing itself as the “authentic” PDP.

*We sincerely hope that INEC, under the leadership of Professor Joash Amupitan, will adopt this prudent course. If, however, the Commission proceeds to publish the names of persons other than those validly sponsored by the authentic leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, it will only deepen public concerns regarding its neutrality and strengthen the perception that it is lending institutional support to individuals whose primary objective is to weaken the opposition from within,” the camp said.

It said in compliance with the Electoral Act, it had submitted the names of candidates for all elective positions to INEC manually in spite of the fact that the commission denied the INWC access codes.

Among the names submitted were former President Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate, National Assembly candidates, governorship candidates and State Houses of Assembly candidates.

The INWC further stated, “Accordingly, we are pleased to announce that notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes- which is an administrative convenience rather than a legal requirement- we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party.

“That submission, containing the names of our Presidential Candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as all Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly candidates, receipt of which was duly acknowledged by INEC.”

The faction vowed to continue to fight to the end, using the judicial process, despite being aware of the forces against its search for victory.

“As part of the electoral timetable, INEC will soon publish the names of candidates sponsored by political parties. Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us, we urge our members, supporters and the teeming Nigerians who eagerly await the candidature of President Jonathan and our other candidates not to despair.

“We are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party,” it added.

The camp expressed the belief that God would eventually hand it victory.

“With God on our side, victory is certain, even if it is delayed. There may be obstacles. There may be frustrations. But the triumph of evil over good, darkness over light, and compromise over principle can only be ephemeral”, it said.

The Abdulrahman Mohammed-led NWC, which is recognised by INEC, has since uploaded the names of candidates for the presidential and National Assembly elections to the commission’s portal, and it’s already uploading candidates for the governorship and House of Assembly polls.