Victory Ahead, by God’s Grace
Being the text of the press conference by Comrade Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, on the state of the Party and its preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Following the judgment of the Supreme Court on the leadership of our Party, which effectively left the Peoples Democratic Party without a legally recognised national leadership, the Board of Trustees and a member-requisitioned National Executive Committee constituted an Interim National Working Committee to manage the affairs of the Party. This decision was duly communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in line with the law.
Despite receiving our notification and several reminders thereafter, INEC declined to accord the Interim National Working Committee the recognition warranted by the extant judicial decisions. Consequently, we approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking, among other reliefs, an order directing the Commission to recognise the Interim National Working Committee.
The judgment delivered by Justice Salim Oluwasupo Ibrahim, reads more like an appeal on the judgement of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. It is clearly inconsistent with the extant decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that form the foundation of our case. Rather than determine the question of enforcing those subsisting judgments, the decision, in our considered view, ventured into issues already settled by superior courts. It is for this reason that we have exercised our constitutional right of appeal.
It is equally important to note that the Certified True Copy of the judgment was released after considerable delay. More significantly, the Certified True Copy did not fully reflect portions of the judgment as delivered in open court. This development raises legitimate concerns, which will also be addressed through the appropriate legal processes. We remain confident that the Court of Appeal will provide the necessary clarification and reaffirm the supremacy of the earlier decisions of the higher courts.
Our decision to seek judicial intervention was, and remains, about preserving the integrity of the Peoples Democratic Party from those who seek to reduce Nigeria’s foremost opposition party into an appendage of the ruling party. We were the pioneer target for opposition dissimation and capture, as a part of the pressure for the attainment of a one-party state, but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties.
It is equally necessary to draw the attention of Nigerians to the conduct of the Independent National Electoral Commission throughout these proceedings. The Commission’s actions have regrettably reinforced the growing public perception that it is no longer acting with the impartiality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire. In every matter involving our Party, including court proceedings before the Ibadan Convention, officials of the Commission withheld or failed to acknowledge material facts that would have assisted the courts in arriving at a just determination. Congresses conducted and monitored by INEC itself were subsequently denied or ignored because acknowledging them would have contradicted the narrative advanced before the courts.
This pattern is particularly disturbing because the judiciary has, on several occasions, reminded the Commission that it owes every political party a duty of neutrality. Unfortunately, our experience has been otherwise. The Commission’s filings, its arguments before the courts, and its refusal to comply with court orders favourable to our Party have collectively created an impression of institutional bias that should concern every Nigerian, irrespective of political affiliation.
History has a remarkable way of preserving the actions and inactions of institutions and public officials. Today’s decisions become tomorrow’s historical records. The present leadership of INEC must therefore appreciate that public confidence is the foundation upon which electoral legitimacy rests. When citizens lose confidence in the impartiality of the electoral umpire, elections inevitably lose credibility.
It is on record that this Chairman is the most disparaged before an election- up to the point where his most popular photo on social media is that with a cap bearing the insignia of the President. While this photo may be AI generated, the popularity of its use indicates the wide acceptability of his clear partisanship.
It is against this background that we convened this press conference.
Any responsible electoral management body confronted with conflicting judicial pronouncements and a pending appeal before the Court of Appeal would exercise restraint pending the final determination of the issues. Such caution would protect both the integrity of the electoral process and the rights of all parties.
We sincerely hope that INEC, under the leadership of Professor Joash Amupitan, will adopt this prudent course. If, however, the Commission proceeds to publish the names of persons other than those validly sponsored by the authentic leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, it will only deepen public concerns regarding its neutrality and strengthen the perception that it is lending institutional support to individuals whose primary objective is to weaken the opposition from within.
It was in anticipation of this possibility that we recently met with our candidates, who overwhelmingly expressed complete confidence in the legal and constitutional processes already initiated by us, and reaffirmed their commitment to reclaiming the Party from those who seek to mortgage its future. Their resolve remains unwavering, and so does ours.
Accordingly, we are pleased to announce that notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes- which is an administrative convenience rather than a legal requirement, we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party.
That submission, containing the names of our Presidential Candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as all Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly candidates-receipt of which was duly acknowledged by INEC.
As part of the electoral timetable, INEC will soon publish the names of candidates sponsored by political parties. Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us, we urge our members, supporters and the teeming Nigerians who eagerly await the candidature of President Jonathan and our other candidates not to despair. We are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our Party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party.
Electoral authoritarianism is fundamentally incompatible with democratic consolidation. It reduces elections to mere rituals rather than genuine expressions of the people’s sovereign will. It weakens public confidence in democracy and ultimately produces leaders who owe their emergence not to the electorate but to narrow political interests determined to perpetuate themselves in power.
This is why every Nigerian, regardless of political persuasion, has a stake in defending multi-party democracy and resisting every attempt at state capture. Nations prosper when political competition is free, fair and credible. They decline when democratic institutions become instruments for suppressing legitimate opposition.
Finally, we remain hopeful. With God on our side, victory is certain, even if it is delayed. There may be obstacles. There may be frustrations. But the triumph of evil over good, darkness over light, and compromise over principle can only be ephemeral.
We understood from the very beginning that this struggle would be a marathon and not a sprint. We remain willing and prepared to endure to the very end, confident that when this difficult chapter in our nation’s political history is eventually closed, history will remember those who stood firmly for principle over expediency, courage over compromise, and democracy over convenience. We intend to be counted among them.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
God bless the Peoples Democratic Party.