Gov. Makinde Leases PDP Chairman, Governors, Others to Adamawa, Blast APC, FCT Minister
In a bold display of PDP unity amid swirling party tensions, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde arrived in Adamawa on Tuesday, spearheading a high-profile delegation that included the party's newly elected National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki, and a cadre of loyal governors. The visit, ostensibly to bolster support for Governor Ahmadu Fintiri ahead of local elections, quickly morphed into a sharp political jab at the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its prominent defector, Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike.
Makinde, flanked by Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed and Plateau's Caleb Mutfwang, wasted no time in addressing a boisterous crowd at the Yola International Airport. "We've come to stand with brothers who choose loyalty over betrayal," he declared, his words laced with unmistakable scorn for Wike, the former Rivers State governor whose recent maneuvers have deepened PDP fractures. "Some people think they can serve two masters—one in Abuja's corridors of power, whispering APC secrets, and the other pretending to wave our party's flag. But the wind has changed; the shades are drawn on such games."
The delegation's trip follows a tumultuous PDP national convention in Ibadan last week, where Makinde's faction secured Turaki's chairmanship amid controversy. There, Wike, ex-Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose, and others faced expulsion for alleged anti-party activities, a move Makinde championed as "housecleaning." Though Fintiri and Mutfwang later distanced themselves from the expulsions to preserve unity, their presence here signals a pragmatic alliance with Makinde's camp, prioritizing electoral gains over internal purges.
Bala Mohammed, PDP Governors' Forum chairman, amplified the shade during a brief rally at the government house. "Wike's hooliganism is over," he thundered, echoing sentiments from the Abuja secretariat standoff last week, where Makinde and he defied police to block Wike's loyalists. "He boasts of destroying us from within the APC—let him try. We're rebuilding, state by state, starting right here in Adamawa."
Fintiri, hosting the group, played the conciliator, praising the visitors for "reinforcing our shared vision against federal overreach." Yet, whispers among aides suggested the visit doubles as a recruitment drive, courting PDP defectors wary of Wike's influence. Local analysts see it as Makinde positioning himself as the party's anti-establishment firebrand, contrasting Wike's federal ties.
As the governors huddled in closed-door sessions, APC chieftains in Adamawa dismissed the pomp as "desperate theater." But for PDP faithful, Makinde's barbs landed like rallying cries. With 2027 looming, this Adamawa pitstop underscores a party clawing back relevance—one pointed critique at a time.
