As the rescheduled North Central Zonal Congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled for May 24, in Jos, Plateau State, approaches, the Hon. Stephen Abraham Ajiya Campaign Council has raised alarm over what it described as a calculated attempt to undermine the integrity of the party and compromise opposition in Nigeria.

In a statement jointly signed by council’s Director General (DG), Hon. Alfa Nma, and it’s Public Relations Officer, Comrade Joseph Garba, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and one time senator, representing the FCT, Philip Aduda, were accused of working in tandem to hijack the PDP structure in the North Central Zone for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election.

The statement read in part: “There are credible indications of an orchestrated scheme to hijack the North Central structure of the PDP through covert political manipulation, allegedly championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, working through a former senator, who once represented the FCT on the platform of our party, Senator Philip Aduda.

“This scheme is believed to be aimed at installing a pliant figure as the PDP North Central Zonal chairman, not to advance the PDP’s interests, but rather to facilitate a broader agenda of weakening the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“It is an open secret that Chief Wike, now fully aligned with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is operating under a publicly declared directive to ensure the re-election of President Bola Ahmed TINUBU and the overall success of the APC, not only in the FCT but also across the country.

“The recent defections of some PDP leaders and elected officials in the FCT to the APC and open romance with the APC’s political foot-soldiers lend credence to this emerging pattern.

The centrepiece of this disturbing strategy appears to be the imposition of Senator Aduda’s preferred candidate, one Mr. Abdulraham, as North Central Zonal chairman, as a tactical entry point to dilute PDP’s strength in the zone and align it with the APC’s political objectives. “We find this to be not only an affront to internal party democracy but also a betrayal of the trust reposed in the PDP as the chief custodian of democratic values in Nigeria.

The North Central Zone is not just another political bloc; it is the cradle of the PDP. It is where our first national chairman, the late Chief Solomon Lar hailed from. To hand over its structure, by proxy or coercion, to agents of the ruling party is tantamount to political heresy.”

Calling on all true democrats and PDP delegates in the North Central to rise in one accord and reject imposition, the campaign council said its candidate, Hon. Ajiya, is a grassroots politician with a long-standing and untainted record of loyalty to the PDP since 1999.

The council added that Ajiya represents a clear choice for genuine party revival and principled leadership not a pawn in a larger game of political domination, while expressing concerns over the deafening silence of key PDP leaders and elders in the zone on the looming subversion, despite numerous petitions and red flags raised by concerned stakeholders.

According to the campaign council, this silence, in the face of an existential threat to the party’s survival in the zone, is deeply troubling and suggests either complacency or complicity.

“The use of financial inducements, strategic misinformation, and prearranged endorsements such as the controversial communiqué released by the PDP FCT Executive Committee in support of a particular aspirant runs contrary to the spirit and letter of our constitution and undermines the democratic principles upon which the PDP was founded.

“We call on the National Working Committee (NWC) and the leadership of our great party at all other levels to take urgent steps to investigate these claims, protect the sanctity of the forthcoming congress, and assure members that the PDP remains a credible platform for democratic engagement, not a bargaining chip in the ruling party’s quest for one-party dominance.

“Let it be known that we are not afraid of a free, fair, and credible electoral process. What we vehemently oppose is the manipulation of that process to favour a candidate who may not have the party’s best interest at heart.

“As we approach May 24, the delegates and leaders of our party must realize that the choices they make will either preserve the PDP’s legacy in the North Central or preside over its deliberate destruction. The future of the party—and indeed the future of Nigeria’s democracy now rests in their hands.

“This is not just about one candidate or one congress. It is about whether the PDP will stand tall as a bastion of democratic resistance or fall as a captured shell of its former self.

“We choose to stand and fight for the soul of the PDP, for the will of the people, and for the hope of a better democratic future. With Hon. Stephen Ajiya we stand,” the statement stated.