Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Oladipupo Adebutu at the Southwest PDP Stakeholders meeting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Friday.

Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains a strong party and is prepared to shock its critics ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The governor made the declaration on Friday at the South West PDP Stakeholders’ Meeting held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Makinde dismissed claims that the party is dead, assuring members that the PDP is “well and alive.”

The South West PDP stakeholders’ meeting attracted PDP leaders and political office holders across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States.

Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Debo Ogundoyin; PDP House of Representatives members from Oyo State; former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; National Secretary of PDP, Taofeek Arapaja; Chairman of PDP in the South West, Kamorudeen Ajisafe; former governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, among others, attended the meeting held at the Ake Pavilion, Alake’s Palace.

The party leaders also received two groups of defectors from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Addressing the gathering, Makinde said the turnout of party members as well as the defectors proved those who declared 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 urged party leaders and members across the region to remain united and committed at the grassroots level, emphasising 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 encouraged party members to be faithful and loyal, expressing optimism about the PDP’s future.

While welcoming Makinde and other party leaders, the leader of the PDP in Ogun State and the party’s 2023 governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, said the PDP has proven its detractors wrong, insisting that the PDP remains united.

“Let’s remain firm in the PDP. We now have structures from ward to the national levels. So, we have nothing to fear,” Adebutu stated. (The Sun)