Nigeria's PDP May Lose Influence Due to a Split Ahead of the Election
Nigeria’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which held the presidency for 16 years, is facing a deep internal crisis ahead of the general election in January. According to BBC News, a legal dispute between party factions over leadership could significantly weaken the PDP’s position in the elections.
The PDP was founded in 1998, and the very next year, its candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, won the presidential election following the end of military rule. The party held the presidency under Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan, and also controlled a majority of Nigeria’s 36 states.
The 2015 federal election cycle proved to be a turning point for the PDP, when Jonathan lost to Muhammadu Buhari and the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC). Political analyst Ishaq Buhari told BBC News that the party, accustomed to being in power, struggled from the outset to function in the opposition.
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In 2025, the crisis was exacerbated by governors defecting to the ruling APC and internal conflicts. At the start of the year, the PDP controlled eight states, but by December, the governors of Delta, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Bayelsa, and Rivers states had defected to the APC. They explained their decision by citing the PDP’s weakening position and a desire to improve cooperation with the federal government. At the start of this year, the party had three governors, but later lost the governorship of Oyo State as well.
In November 2025, one of the PDP factions held a controversial national convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, despite court rulings attempting to block it. This faction expelled Nyesoma Vike from the party; Vike serves in President Bola Tinubu’s government, which was formed by the APC. Vike leads a rival faction that is legally considered the legitimate party structure. It was this faction that submitted lists of presidential and parliamentary candidates to the electoral commission, while the other faction has no representatives on the ballots.
Despite the crisis, some PDP members are counting on the party’s revival, citing its network of local offices, activists, and supporters. Analyst Deji Olarenwaju believes that an alliance with the African Democratic Congress or Peter Obi’s Nigerian Democratic Congress could offer the PDP an opportunity.
