The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) appears restless at the moment despite its claim of being “kampe”. The tsunami that hit the party in Delta State and some other impending ones are more than devastating. But the umbrella organisation is responsible for its own ordeals.
Fifteen years after the brutal attack on Chibok, a sleepy community in southern Borno State, by the Boko Haram insurgents, the terrorists have resumed their bloody campaign in the community. Lives and property are being wasted by the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter of Boko Haram. Urgent help is needed right now.
PDP at the crossroads
The decision by the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to go to court over the mass defection in Delta State led by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and former governor Ifeanyi Okowa seems to be an effort in futility.
The party’s Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, disclosed the PDP’s intention after a meeting of its National Working Committee (NWC) on Tuesday.
Damagum was relying on the provision in the Electoral Act that states that whenever a member leaves a party, that member must vacate the seat under that platform.
It would seem that the PDP leaders have just decided to flog a dead horse. For crying out loud, PDP has lost legions of its members to the APC in the current dispensation.
At the national and sub-national levels, many of those who won elections on the PDP platform have jumped ship into the warm embrace of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
A number of people elected as lawmakers at the state and national assemblies have moved to the ruling party. Despite all the hue and cry that greeted their decampment and the agitations to have their seats declared vacant, there were no reversals.
So, despite those fruitless efforts, observers are wondering what gave Damagum and his fellow leaders in the umbrella association the assurance that any court in Nigeria has the capacity to force Oborevwori, Okowa and other defectors to move back to the PDP or declare their seats vacant.
Could it be that the PDP was crying foul just to be heard to fulfil all righteousness, knowing full-well that going to court is an effort in futility?
Rather than dissipate energy running after those who have willy-nilly dumped the party, is it not high time the PDP began to address the obvious ills in its fold that are driving people away from it?
Whether the Delta defectors were right or wrong in their decision to shabbily treat a party that gave them the platform to hold political power, what is not arguable is that it was the party that walked itself into this dark alley.
Major actors in the PDP contributed to the internal wrangling that is threatening the fabric of the party. The refusal of the party to organise a convention to elect new leaders has continued to rock its boat.
The PDP has been in disarray at the national level since it lost the presidential election in 2023. The party yielded itself to be infiltrated by fifth columnists, who profess to be PDP in the day, but under the cover of the night they wear the APC garb and fraternise with the party’s chieftains.
The refusal of the party to take a stand on what to do with individuals who openly declared war against it and caused the crisis that led to the loss of the presidential election in 2023 has continued to be her nemesis.
Despite how the party feels about the Delta tsunami, it is unlikely that it will prevent other governors on the platform from toeing Governor Oborevewori’s line. It is a matter of time; after all, the signs are everywhere!
Fresh tears in Chibok
Nigeria is in a difficult situation right now, security-wise. If there is any urgent need the government should attend to – and decisively too – it is to end the orgy of senseless killings across the country.
Reassurances are no longer enough; what is needed now is a total end to the maddening rampaging of terrorists all over the place.
Apart from the incessant activities of bandits who terrorise some communities in Kaduna, Zamfara, Gombe, Sokoto and some other states, the invasion of Plateau and Benue communities by rampaging suspected herdsmen has continued to pose concerns to many Nigerians.
Then, the renewed onslaught by the Boko Haram insurgents has shattered the peace of some Borno communities that were preparing for a new life after many years of living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
While the federal government and security agencies are seeking a lasting solution to the senseless attacks, the criminal elements are scaling up their bloody campaigns.
For instance, reports had it that over 14 people were murdered last Monday in a community in the Chibok Local Government Area in the southern part of Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents. Several other people reportedly sustained deadly injuries, some have remained missing, and a number of buildings, including shops and a church, were completely destroyed.
The attack was said to have been targeted at villagers who were gathered for the funeral rites of a community leader.
There was also a reported explosion on Tuesday morning along the Maiduguri-Damboa highway which killed many people, including children.
In recent times, there has been a resurgence in the attacks by the insurgents in Borno State. In the last two weeks, three bridges have reportedly been blown off in Borno and Yobe states.
This development has put in jeopardy the efforts of the Babagana Zulum administration at resettling the displaced communities. The returnees are facing fresh security threats and at serious risk of a renewed humanitarian crisis in the region.
Recently, former Senate Leader Mohammed Ali Ndume lamented the renewed control of territory by Boko Haram insurgents in parts of Borno State.
Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, said that Boko Haram has taken over three local government areas between November 2024 and April 2025. He named the LGs as Gudumbari, Marte and Abadam.
He had also urged the federal government to declare a state of emergency on security and the economy, stressing the need to prioritise the fight against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping across the country.
“We are worried because, from November last year to date, we have recorded 252 attacks in Borno State alone. In just six months, over 100 soldiers and more than 200 civilians have been killed—238 from the records we have,” he said.
According to him, “Even though the Nigerian Armed Forces are doing their best—they have eliminated over 800 terrorists—the terrorists themselves have killed about 500 of their own due to clashes with the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter of Boko Haram, which is growing in power and influence in north-eastern Nigeria. As I speak to you, three local governments are under Boko Haram.”
A few days ago, the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar; his counterpart, Minister of State, Bello Matawalle; and some military apparatchiks were in Borno State to reassure the people of the government’s determination to end the insurgency and protect the lives and property of the people.
On the occasion, Governor Zulum cried out to the military to launch aggressive offensive operations in Lake Chad island, which he noted had been taken over by the insurgents.
Late last year, Zulum took some bold steps in trying to reopen the deserted communities and relocate the displaced indigenes back to their ancestral homes. He also distributed empowerment materials to the people.
But at that time, ActionAid had warned that beyond the euphoria of returning the displaced people, the state government must make appropriate and adequate plans on how to ensure the security of the returnee.
The troubling insecurity is not just in the northern region; other parts of the country are also suffering from the menace of one killer group or the other that have made life unpleasant for the people.
While bandits and other assorted terrorists operate in the north, kidnappers have taken over the southern part of the country. People are easily taken for ransom, and, in some cases, some are killed even after ransom has been paid on their head.
The Southeast region of Nigeria, for example, has long been plagued by persistent insecurity, worsened by the Indigenous People of Biafra’s (IPOB) “sit-at-home” orders, which have crippled economic activity and normal life.
The federal government’s seeming inability or unwillingness to address this issue has sparked accusations of defeat, complicity, or both.
This abdication of responsibility, as it were, by the government and its relevant agencies has left the citizens in perpetual fear and suffering. The economy of the geopolitical zone has since taken a hit.
The worst of it all is that there has been a blame game and finger-pointing over whose fault it is and whose responsibility it is to rein in the monsters perpetrating the trouble in the region.
Nigerians cannot continue to live in perpetual fear of possible attacks. The government must find a lasting solution to the orgy of brutal killings going on across the country. After all, the raison d’être for any government is the protection of lives and property of the citizenry.
On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, and to date, some of them are still in their den. Nobody knows whether they will ever come back to their families.
