Chairman of the 2026 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Convention Planning and Organising Committee, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, yesterday said the party may have lost some elections, the vital credential of being the most structured party in Nigeria still resides with it.
Ikpazu sated this in his opening remarks at the 10th Elective National Convention of the PDP backed by Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, yesterday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convention, themed: “Inclusiveness, Unity and Renewal,” is aimed at electing new National Working Committee (NWC) members to steer the party’s affairs for the next four years.
Ikpeazu, a former Abia Governor, advised party delegates to look beyond the recent electoral setbacks and focus on the party’s institutional strength. He recalled that the last time PDP assembled at a national convention to elect its NWC members was October 2021 at the Eagle Square in Abuja.
Ikpeazu noted that since that moment, the party had traversed a challenging and, at times, turbulent path. “The tenure of that NWC witnessed internal leadership strains and institutional tests at the centre.
“These developments ultimately culminated in the decisive intervention of the National Executive Committee (NEC) at its 104th meeting in December 2025, where a National Caretaker Working Committee (NCWC) was constituted in the overriding interest of stability and continuity.
“Today, however, we stand once again at the threshold of history,” he said. The former governor noted that notwithstanding the travails of the party since its last elective convention in 2021, its national reach remained unmatched in the Nigerian political landscape.
“Let it be clearly stated: the PDP remains Nigeria’s most experienced, most structured and most nationally rooted political party because of your loyalty and support.
“We may have lost some elections, but this vital credential still resides with us and we need to guard it with even greater zeal at our disposal.
“It is because of your faith and steadfastness in this party that we must now resolve, from this convention, to rebuild, rebrand and reposition PDP into a stronger, more cohesive and forward-looking political force, ready to reclaim its leadership role in the governance of our dear country,” he said.
