The National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ini Ememobong, has dismissed the recognition of a rival, Wike-backed leadership by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that such acknowledgment does not confer legitimacy on what he described as a “faulty process.”
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme on Monday, Ememobong defended the emergence of the party’s interim leadership and argued that the ongoing crisis within the PDP requires political, not purely legal, solutions.
“Clearly, the judiciary, the laws of the land, are not able to solve political problems,” he said. “Political problems must find political solutions. Anytime you try to use the straight line of the law to solve multifarious political issues, you end up creating more problems.”
Ememobong clarified that Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, currently serves as Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, while the party’s Interim NWC is led by Kabiru Turaki. He said his role as National Publicity Secretary is tied specifically to the interim structure.
Addressing the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court judgment that voided the party’s November national convention in Ibadan, Ememobong argued that the ruling exposed deeper structural issues rather than resolving them.
According to him, the root of the dispute lies in what he described as an illegitimate exercise of authority by suspended party officials. He maintained that actions taken by the rival faction were built on a defective foundation.
“Before you exercise power, there must be authority. Authority comes before power,” he said. “The origin of what they are holding on to started on the 3rd, on a letter sent to INEC by someone who, as of that date, had no capacity in law to act.”
Using an analogy, he added: “If you are suspended on the 1st and on the 3rd you come out to say you are now in charge and begin to issue directives, that foundation is faulty. Everything built on it will crash.”
Ememobong further argued that the Court of Appeal had already established that certain key actors in the dispute were suspended and had not been formally reinstated, rendering their subsequent actions invalid. He noted that attempts to overturn that position at the Supreme Court failed.
On the formation of the Interim NWC, he explained that the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), with what he described as the required quorum, stepped in to fill a leadership vacuum created by the legal disputes.
“The party existed as a vehicle but didn’t have a driver,” he said. “So the NEC met, appointed an interim leadership, and mandated it to ensure that the party remains functional and ready for elections.”
He added that the interim leadership has already commenced key activities, including the sale of nomination forms and the establishment of guidelines for candidate selection.
Reacting to INEC’s continued recognition of the rival leadership, Ememobong accused the electoral body of bias, saying its position does not determine legality.
“The monitoring or attendance of INEC does not qualify or disqualify a process,” he stated. “INEC’s recognition cannot validate what is fundamentally flawed.”
He also took a swipe at the commission, suggesting it had compromised its neutrality. “This INEC, as constituted today, has been so discredited even before the elections,” he said, while expressing confidence that ongoing court cases would ultimately resolve the dispute.
Despite the deepening internal crisis and a wave of defections that has reportedly reduced the PDP’s governors’ ranks, Ememobong insisted that the party remains a viable political force.
“We are contenders, not pretenders,” he said. “Like the phoenix, no matter how down we go, when we rise, we take over again.”
He attributed the party’s current challenges to both internal disagreements and external pressures, warning against what he described as efforts to push Nigeria toward a one-party state.
“At the slightest opportunity, this party will spring surprises,” he added.
