The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Turaki, has said FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and members of his faction should be grateful for being expelled.
He said this during an interview with Arise News on Tuesday saying the decision by the party to expel high-profile members, including FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, was a legal necessity and a way to assist them in joining other parties.
He explained that the party’s rules do not allow dual membership, and those who have been expelled can now pursue political interests elsewhere.
“So what we did, by giving them those certificates of expulsion, is to assist them. When they go to register with any other political party, they have something to show to those political parties.
“‘We are no longer members of PDP. We have been expelled. This is evidence of my expulsion’. So if anything, I think they should be grateful for what we’ve done,” he stated.
Turaki also defended his appeal to the international community to monitor Nigeria’s democratic processes following clashes with opposing factions during party meetings.
He said the United States and other international observers should take an active interest in Nigeria’s democracy, stressing that the country cannot be forced into a one-party system.
He said that his group faced violent attacks, including over 100 tear-gas canisters fired at them, even targeting serving governors with immunity.
Recall that on 18th November, violence erupted at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretariat in Wadata Plaza, Abuja, forcing police to fire teargas to disperse supporters amid a leadership dispute between rival factions.
The clash began when Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, and the faction led by newly elected PDP National Chairman Kabiru Turaki arrived at the headquarters. Their entry triggered confrontations with supporters of Samuel Anyanwu’s faction, who tried to block them.
Security operatives loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and the two governors engaged in a standoff, with police deploying teargas to restore order.
Speaking , Turaki said despite this, they did not retaliate and insisted on their right to access party offices and carry out legitimate activities.
Addressing the party’s internal disputes, Turaki said anyone wishing to return must apologise first. He added that while the new leadership aims to attract more members rather than push anyone away, tough decisions are sometimes necessary to ensure the survival of the PDP.
He described FCT Minister Nyesom Wike as a personal friend but emphasised that his loyalty to the PDP comes first.
He also said that the process that led to his emergence as party chairman, followed established zoning arrangements and democratic principles.
He said despite criticisms of factionalism, internal disagreements, and claims of defiance by some members, the PDP has always followed a pattern of leadership selection that ensures fairness across regions.
He highlighted the role of the party’s National Zoning Committee, which assigned the presidential ticket to the southern part of Nigeria and the national chairmanship to the northern part.
“Now, the Northern Caucus made a lot of argument and persuasive argument for that matter. It was agreed unanimously that the national chairmanship of the party should be micro-zoned to the northwestern zone of the country.
“The process that led to my selection as a consensus candidate is not something that is unique. It’s not something that is unprecedented,” he said.
Turaki explained that four individuals initially expressed interest in contesting the national chairmanship from the Northwest, including himself, Governor Ahmed Mkadvi of Kaduna State, Governor Ibrahim Sheikharo, and his elder brother Aleksey Lelemi.
However, both governors later accepted the consensus decision that Turaki would be the candidate.
“Any other person who was dissatisfied or who was still insistent on wanting to contest was free to do so. But if you want to contest, then you must contest within the parameters set by the party.
“In other words, you must go and buy a form within the terms stipulated by the National Executive Committee of the party, number two.
“You must fill that form and submit it within the window allowed by the programme of the party, number three. You must subject yourself to screening exercise and so on and so forth,” he said.
He also stressed that the PDP remains committed to national unity and fair representation, and that the party’s leadership decisions are meant to strengthen it ahead of future elections.
“Now, it is wrong for anybody to say that PDP is factionised. There’s no factionised PDP. We had problems like any other political party. Since when we lost the election in 2015, anything that any political party will go through, we’ve gone through as a PDP, as a party.
“We’ve learned our lessons. But we’re now working efforts to put all those things behind us while learning a lot of lessons from those experiences that we’ve had,” Turaki said.