Lawyer and rights activist, Liborous Oshoma, has warned that the deepening crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) risks destroying internal democracy and weakening Nigeria’s political system, accusing Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike of destabilising the opposition ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Wednesday, Oshoma said the turmoil rocking the PDP predates the 2023 elections and began when past leaders abandoned the party at its moment of greatest need.

“I would not just start the crisis of PDP from 2023,” he said. “I would first and foremost blame the past presidents that the platform of the PDP produced for abandoning the party when it needed them most.”

Oshoma traced the problems back to 2015, when the PDP, which once boasted it would govern Nigeria for 60 years — suddenly lost power and panicked.

“At that time, it suddenly dawned on them that there was no money to run the party. Some persons went to mortgage the party to Modu Sheriff. Atiku had left. Obasanjo had torn his PDP card. And then they quickly ran to Wike,” he explained.

Oshoma argued that it was at this point that the party “mortgaged its future” to the then Rivers State governor without understanding the consequences.

“You remember the ping-pong between the Federal High Court in Abuja and the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt,” he said, criticising the repeated use of contradictory court orders to control internal party leadership. “It shows truly that something is wrong.”

He accused Wike of repeatedly turning on PDP leaders he once supported:

You said you wanted Uche Secondus out — he went out. Atiku was your problem — Atiku has gone. Now Damagum came. You were in hot romance with him until now. Enough should be enough.”

On the legal battles surrounding the controversial convention in Ibadan, Oshoma condemned the now-familiar spectacle of conflicting rulings from courts of coordinate jurisdiction.

“It’s sad and unfortunate that at this day and time, we’re still having a ping-pong of judgments and court orders. When courts of coordinate jurisdiction clash, you pick and choose which to obey,” he said. “In this case, the last court order — from Oyo State — was obeyed, and they went ahead with the convention.”

He warned, however, that the issues raised in earlier court orders could not simply be dismissed.

“Those issues were the fact that party congresses must be held before a convention. There were congresses that were not held. And a candidate was excluded from the process. This was why Rivers APC could not field a candidate in 2019,” he said.

Oshoma added that reconciliation should have preceded any convention, but insisted one obstacle made this impossible:

“There is one character that cannot be reconciled except he has his way — and that is Wike.”

According to him, the turmoil is no accident.

“It is obvious that the APC does not want opposition in the 2027 general election,” he said. “This fixation on 2027 and ensuring no opposition will certainly destroy democracy.”

Oshoma stressed that Nigeria’s democracy requires a strong and functioning opposition.

“With increased insecurity and all the crisis we’re having now, the government in power needs at least an opposition to urge them on,” he said.

He concluded with a stark warning:

“No opposition will certainly destroy democracy.” (AriseNews TV)