PDP Breaks Silence Over Merger Claims With APM

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Bauchi State, has denied reports that its structure has been merged with the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The party’s Legal Adviser in the state, Yahaya Garkuwa, dismissed the report as false during a press conference in Bauchi on Tuesday, Naija News reports.

Garkuwa said the PDP remained intact in the state, accusing members of a rival faction of impersonating party officials and spreading false information to create confusion among members and the public.

He said the PDP structure recognized by his faction in Bauchi remained under the leadership of Ibrahim Kashim Toro.

According to him, the national leadership recognized by the faction is led by Abdulrahman Mohammed.

The legal adviser also said the crisis within the PDP had been taken to different levels of the judiciary.

Garkuwa explained that the Federal High Court had earlier recognized the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led caretaker leadership of the party at the national level.

“Dissatisfied with the decision, the Tanimu Turaki faction went to the Court of Appeal, where the Court of Appeal still confirmed the leadership of the PDP under Abdulrahman Mohammed and in Bauchi State under Hon. Ibrahim’s leadership,” Garkuwa said.

In other news, the PDP governorship candidate in the June 20, 2026 Ekiti State election, Oluwole Oluyede, has withdrawn his petition challenging the re-election of Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Naija News reports that the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal subsequently struck out the case at its inaugural sitting in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday following an application by Oluyede and the PDP.

Speaking after the proceedings, Oluyede said he abandoned the legal challenge following appeals from President Bola Tinubu and other individuals he described as important to him.

He also said he intended to work towards Tinubu’s victory in the forthcoming presidential election, while insisting he remained a member of the PDP.

Oluyede had approached the tribunal after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Oyebanji the winner of the June 20 governorship election.

However, before the substantive hearing commenced, the PDP candidate filed a motion seeking to withdraw the case.

His lawyer, Paul Komolafe, who also appeared for the PDP, moved the application before the three-member panel comprising Justices Abubakar Idris Kutigi, Aminu Tukur and Maurice Okediya.

Counsel for Oyebanji, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN); the APC; and INEC lawyer, Sulaiman Ibrahim, raised no objection to the withdrawal.

The tribunal chairman, Justice Kutigi, consequently struck out the petition.

Explaining his decision to journalists after the sitting, Oluyede said he believed ending the litigation would allow political actors to concentrate on the development of Ekiti State and the country.