PDP NEC Expels Makinde, Bala Mohammed and Dissolves Six State Excos

PDP NEC faction led by Abdulrahman expels Makinde Bala Mohammed and others and dissolves six state Excos as party rivalry deepens ahead of 2027.

Atlantic Post

November 18, 2025

3–5 minutes

2027 Elections, Bala Mohammed, Mohammed Abdulrahman, NEC, Nigerian Politics, Nyesom Wike, party crisis, Party Discipline, PDP, Seyi Makinde

In a dramatic escalation of the Peoples Democratic Party’s internal crisis, the party’s National Executive Committee led by the acting chairman Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman ratified the expulsion of sitting governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, together with a clutch of senior stalwarts including Senator Adolphus Wabara and Bode George.

The committee made a decision. It moved to dissolve State Executive Councils in Bauchi, Oyo, Zamfara, Yobe, Lagos, Edo, and Ekiti. This was in a bid to reassert control and restore discipline.

The decisions emerged from a necessary response. The NEC described this response in reaction to actions that flouted court orders. These actions also tore at the party’s constitutional fabric.

The communique was read at the close of the 103rd NEC meeting by National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu. It said the committee had received reports of violations of Articles 58 1 and 59 1. These violations amounted to anti-party conduct and conduct bringing the party into disrepute.

The NEC authorised disciplinary procedures and directed the NWC to constitute caretaker committees and begin fresh congresses in the affected states.

This is more than internecine horse trading. It is an explicit attempt by political watched regard as the Wike aligned camp to redraw the party map ahead of the 2027 cycle.

The NEC went further by ratifying Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman as Acting National Chairman and instructing the legal team to seek constitutional remedies to recover seats from elected officials who defected in line with Sections 68 1 g and 109 1 g of the 1999 Constitution.

These are high stakes moves that convert political discord into litigation and administrative purge.

Eyewitness and media accounts confirm the physical theatre on Tuesday as rival camps vied for control at Wadata Plaza, crowds surged and police were forced to intervene. The confrontation is symptomatic of a party that now functions through parallel authorities.

Each faction claims legitimacy making any resolution dependent on either a negotiated settlement or protracted court battles that will sap resources and public confidence.

For investigators and voters the key questions are legal, practical and political.

First, on legality, does a factional NEC have the procedural authority to expel sitting governors or dissolve state Excos when rival organs claim to be the authentic leadership? The communique invokes the party constitution and the 1999 constitutional provisions yet the real test will be the judiciary which may be asked to determine which body within the PDP enjoys binding authority.

Second, on practicality, who will run party business in the affected states? How quickly can caretaker committees be constituted and credible congresses held without further alienating grassroots structures?

Third on politics will these purges strengthen discipline or further hollow out the party’s electoral machinery before 2027?

The answers will not be purely legal. They will be political and operational and will determine whether the PDP can offer itself as a unified alternative to the ruling party.

The NEC communique also announced a party wide reconciliation initiative and a nationwide membership audit aimed at revalidation ahead of the 2027 elections.

The reconciliation caveat, however, is telling reconciliation will proceed only insofar as it does not undermine discipline. That framing signals that for the Abdulrahman led leadership reconciliation is conditional and likely to be calibrated to remove rather than to accommodate dissidents.

From a conservative vantage point the argument for order and respect for party rules is persuasive. Parties must enforce discipline to function effectively.

Yet discipline enforced by factional fiat risks substituting one form of impunity for another unless the measures are transparently lawful and accompanied by credible processes of review and appeal.

The danger is that victors in internal contests will weaponise party organs against legitimate opponents turning internal governance into a zero sum contest.

Immediate consequences are predictable. A wave of legal challenges is inevitable. Governors and affected officials will contest expulsions and dissolution orders in the courts while rival NEC members will insist on the validity of their own acts.

The outcome will shape not only party leadership but also the PDP’s capacity to present a united front in electoral contests. Both sides must however be mindful that public patience with party infighting is thin and that prolonged turmoil will erode voter faith.

This episode is a test of whether the PDP can convert momentary victory into institutional legitimacy. The actions taken on 18 November 2025 may stabilise an immediate crisis for one faction but unless they are grounded in clear legal authority and accompanied by sincere outreach to the wider party the result may be a weaker fragmented opposition at a time when Nigeria needs credible alternatives.

This investigation will follow court filings caretaker appointments and the promised membership audit to measure whether the party has chosen stability or factional triumphalism.

Additional reporting by Osaigbovo Okungbowa, Senior Political Correspondent.