The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains strong and prepared to surprise its critics ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Makinde stated this while speaking at the Southwest PDP Stakeholders’ Meeting held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Friday.
The Oyo governor refuted the claims that the party is dead, assuring members that the PDP is “well and alive.”
The Southwest PDP stakeholders’ meeting attracted PDP leaders and political office holders across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States.
Debo Ogundoyin, Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly; PDP House of Representatives members from Oyo State; former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Taofeek Arapaja, National Secretary of the PDP; Kamorudeen Ajisafe, Chairman of the PDP in the Southwest; and Ladi Adebutu, former governorship candidate in Ogun State, were among those in attendance.
The party leaders also welcomed two sets of defectors from the All Progressives Congress and the New Nigeria Peoples Party into the party.
Addressing the audience, Makinde stated that the turnout of party members as well as defectors has shown those who proclaimed the PDP a dead political party wrong.
“I can assure you that the PDP is well and alive. Whoever thinks otherwise will be surprised beyond their imagination,” the governor said.
He charged party leaders and members across the region to remain united and committed at the grassroots level, emphasizing the importance of strengthening the party’s structures within communities, wards, and local governments.
“So, my charge to you is, please hold your communities, hold your wards, hold your local governments, and it will be well with us,” he added.
Makinde also appealed to party members to be faithful and loyal, expressing optimism about the PDP’s future.
While welcoming Makinde and other party leaders, Adebutu stated that the PDP has proven its critics wrong, emphasizing that the party remains unified.
“Let’s remain firm in the PDP. We now have structures from the ward to the national levels.
“So, we have nothing to fear,” Adebutu said.
He had recently reaffirmed his commitment to the PDP, declaring his comfort in the opposition party despite a growing wave of high-profile defections to the ruling APC.
“No, I’m comfortable in the PDP,” Makinde told journalists after closed-door talks with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.
He stressed that his visit to the president was focused on governance matters affecting the nation rather than party political considerations.
“The President is the President of Nigeria, not the President of APC. And we’re talking about governance here.
“So I came to discuss with the president some governance issues, basically,” Makinde said.
When asked if recent public disagreement with other PDP stakeholders and his travel to meet the president indicated a move toward the ruling party, Makinde stated that he felt at ease in his party.
The governor emphasized that, while he was eager to collaborate with the president on issues of national importance, his party loyalty remained firm.
He claimed that having a strong opposition was critical to Nigeria’s democratic health, especially as the country prepared for the 2027 general elections.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
