The Traffic

PDP Governors Decry Militarisation of By-Elections, Warn Against Plots to Derail Convention

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of weaponising state power during last Saturday’s by-elections, alleging that the polls were marred by militarisation, vote buying, and violence.

Rising from a meeting in Gusau, Zamfara State, the forum said the heavy security presence and irregularities witnessed across polling units amounted to a deliberate attempt to intimidate voters and tilt the process in favour of the APC.

Forum Chairman and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, in a communiqué issued after the meeting, expressed appreciation to party faithful for their resilience, insisting that no amount of intimidation could erode the PDP’s grassroots strength or diminish Nigerians’ yearning for a return to “affordable living and relative security” that the party claims it guaranteed while in power.

“This sad situation,” the communiqué read, “is nothing but the desperation of a political party without vision, without agenda, and destined for inevitable rejection by the masses. The intimidation of opposition forces will not silence the resolve of Nigerians to reclaim democracy.”

The forum reaffirmed its commitment to holding the party’s much-anticipated national convention on November 15, warning against what it described as orchestrated plots by “anti-party forces” to derail the process.

“The PDP remains the only truly democratic institution and a credible alternative capable of restoring Nigeria to the path of stability, good governance, and development,” the governors declared.

On security, the governors praised Zamfara State for recent gains against armed groups but condemned the continuing violence in Katsina, Plateau, Niger, Benue, and other states. They urged the federal government to “rise above rhetoric” and act decisively to protect lives and property.

With the 2027 political horizon already taking shape, the forum’s message was unmistakable: the PDP sees itself as the only viable counterweight to APC dominance, and it is rallying its base to resist suppression and safeguard the November convention as a springboard for national comeback.

By Haruna Yakubu Haruna