The crisis rocking the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP over which factions have legal backing to direct the affairs of the State will shape political alignment and deflection in the next 48 hours as Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal and other PDP leaders await verdict of the Appeal Court.
The Nation gathered on there is high speculation that Zamfara State Governor, Lawal may conclude his defection plan to All Progressives Congress, APC, next week.
Multiple party sources in Abuja, Gusau and Kaduna said the governor and his supporters in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are only waiting for the Court of Appeal’s decision on the suits filed by the rival factions seeking control of the PDP.
FreshPage recalls that Zamfara Governor, Lawal belongs to the Tanimu Turaki-led faction just like Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi and Engr Seyi Makinde of Oyo State who are also weighing their options.
Lawal is said to have held meetings with top officials of the APC on his plan.
This, it was gathered, was the main reason the APC postponed indefinitely its state, local government and ward congresses in Zamfara.
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The party, in a March 2, 2026 memo to the Chairman of the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC), said the postponement stemmed from “ongoing consultations and the need to conclude certain preparatory and administrative processes to ensue orderly, transparent and credible conduct of the congresses in the state.’
The party said it would communicate a revised schedule of activities for the state to the commission in due course and in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.
If Lawal joins the APC, he will become the 31st governor in the fold of the party.
He met with PDP stakeholders in the state penultimate Friday on the way forward, and many of those in attendance favoured a switch to the APC.
Within the last one year, the PDP has lost Governors Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Sheriff Obrevwori (Delta), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), Duoye Diri (Bayelsa), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers) and Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau) to the APC.
Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf joined from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Another source said Governor Bala Mohammed, who doubles as the chairman of the PDP’s Governors’ Forum, may have gone far already in secret negotiations with the ruling APC.
“He may have already outlined what he wants from APC such as a ticket to the Senate, some National Assembly seats for his loyalists and President Tinubu’s help towards convincing APC’s leadership to allow him produce a successor.
“But presently, there seems to be very tough opposition to the succession request because everyone knows about the huge corruption matter on ground already,” the source said.
On his part, Governor Makinde has consistently dismissed speculations that he is secretly working on switching to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
When the Nation contacted, the Publicity Secretary of the Mohammed Abdulrahman-led PDP, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, said he was busy with ongoing arrangements for congresses at various levels towards having the PDP National Caretaker Committee’s national convention scheduled for March 28-29 in Abuja.
He said he would rather wait till Monday so that he can address the press after the Appeal Court judgment.
