Wike-Backed Lagos PDP Appeals To George Ahead Of 2027 Elections

A faction loyal to Nyesom Wike is publicly courting one of its fiercest internal critics — and the timing tells its own story.
The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has extended a public appeal to Chief Bode George, urging the former Deputy National Chairman to return to what it calls the party’s “mainstream leadership structure” ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The appeal arrived through the faction’s State Organising Secretary, Hakeem Olalemi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Sunday. Coming from a Wike-aligned structure, the overture is notable for one simple reason: George has spent much of the ongoing PDP leadership crisis as one of Wike’s most vocal critics.

George’s position within the party’s current factional dispute is unambiguous. He aligns with the National Working Committee led by Dr Kabiru Turaki, a structure backed by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde — the camp standing in direct opposition to the Wike-supported leadership under Alhaji Abdurahman Mohammed.

Despite that alignment, Olalemi insisted George remains, in his words, family. “Chief Bode George is always welcome in the PDP. We have great respect for him, and there is room for him within the party,” Olalemi said. “He is our father. He is a foundation member; nobody can ask where he is coming from. We will welcome him back to the fold.”

The language is carefully chosen. Calling George “our father” and “a foundation member” positions any future disagreement as a family matter rather than an irreconcilable political rift — a framing that leaves the door open regardless of how sharply George has criticised Wike’s handling of the party crisis.

Olalemi framed the overture within a broader narrative of party unity, describing internal discipline and reconciliation as part of the PDP’s enduring political culture.
“The PDP is a family,” he said. “If we use one hand to discipline a child, we use the other hand to bring him back. That is what has been keeping us together. There is room for everybody who believes in the progress of the party.”

He extended the appeal beyond George specifically, calling on all members who have drifted from the party’s recognised structure to return. “We must forget the past. We want everyone on the other side to come back and be with us to build this party again.”

The metaphor — discipline with one hand, embrace with the other — is a familiar rhetorical device in Nigerian intra-party politics, typically deployed when a faction needs to project strength and openness simultaneously: firm enough to maintain authority, welcoming enough to avoid permanent fractures that could damage electoral prospects.

Beyond the internal reconciliation message, Olalemi used the interview to address Lagos’s broader opposition landscape — and he did not mince words.
“There is no other opposition in Lagos except PDP in Lagos,” he said. “All those people that I call mushroom parties cannot match us in terms of experience, exposure and political structure.”

He challenged anyone to compare the pedigree of rival governorship candidates with the PDP’s own contender, framing the party as the only credible alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state. He went further, suggesting that many figures currently in opposition parties were themselves PDP members at some point — implying a cyclical pattern of departure and eventual return.
“Those who have left will come back to the fold,” Olalemi said. “All of them will return to PDP because they know where the structure is.”

Beyond the rhetoric directed at George and rival parties, Olalemi confirmed the PDP has begun reorganising its structures across Lagos State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said party members were actively mobilising support at ward, local government, and zonal levels — the foundational organisational layers that determine a party’s ground-level effectiveness during elections.

“PDP in Lagos State is more than ready to slug it out with APC in the 2027 general elections,” Olalemi said. “We are rejigging our machinery at the various local governments, wards and zones. PDP is everywhere in Lagos State.”

The appeal to George arrives at a moment when the PDP, nationally and in Lagos specifically, continues to grapple with the consequences of its prolonged leadership dispute. Two competing National Working Committees — one backed by Wike, the other by Makinde — have left state chapters across Nigeria navigating divided loyalties heading into a critical election cycle.

Whether George responds to the Lagos faction’s overture remains uncertain. His public criticism of Wike has been consistent and pointed throughout the crisis, and reconciliation gestures from a Wike-aligned structure may not be sufficient to bridge that gap on their own.

What is clear is that Lagos PDP, regardless of which national faction it ultimately aligns with most closely, recognises that 2027 cannot be approached with a fractured internal house. Whether courting George succeeds in repairing that fracture — or simply highlights how deep it remains — will become clearer as the pre-election period intensifies.