Makinde vows PDP won’t be sacrificed for 2027 power deal, admits 2023 ‘mistake’

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has vowed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not be deliberately weakened or “held down” to allow another political party retain power at the centre in the 2027 general elections.

Makinde made this known on Tuesday during the inauguration of a newly constructed PDP Secretariat at Oke-Ado, Ibadan, a project executed and donated by his administration.

The governor openly admitted that his political alignment in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election contributed to the emergence of another party at the federal level, describing the move as a mistake he would not repeat.

“In 2023, I was yoked with some individuals, and that led to the emergence of the other party in the presidential election. But now, I have repented. I will not go again,” Makinde said.

He stressed that any attempt to sideline the PDP for the benefit of another party ahead of 2027 would be strongly resisted.

“For them to hold PDP down for another party to be in power, it is no, no, no,” he declared.

Makinde attributed the internal crisis rocking the PDP to the actions of a few individuals, noting that they were expelled from the party in November 2025.

“So whatever it is that they are doing now, you should be able to trace it back to their origin,” he added.

Speaking on the party’s ongoing court cases, the governor expressed confidence in the judiciary, saying the courts would do the needful and deliver justice to the PDP.

“The judiciary is the last hope of the common man, and I believe justice will prevail,” he said.

A major highlight of the event was the formal handover of documents of the newly built PDP Secretariat—named after a former state chairman of the party, Alhaji Omokunmi Mustapha—to the court-nullified factional national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Kabiru Turaki.

In his remarks, Turaki thanked Governor Makinde for the building and commended his commitment to the growth and stability of the party.

Meanwhile, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan on January 30 nullified the PDP convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025, which produced Turaki as the party’s national chairman.