Renowned Nigerian human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has hailed the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to expel the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and several others from the party.
Ejiofor described the move as a “long-awaited sledgehammer” finally deployed to rescue the party from internal sabotage.
Ejiofor, in his weekly commentary titled MONDAY MUSING, questioned why it took the PDP leadership nearly two years to act, despite the “blatant and calculated subversion” allegedly orchestrated by Wike and his allies.
He expressed disappointment that the PDP “allowed political tourists, whose loyalty to the party is as authentic as a fake passport,” to remain within its leadership structure long enough to cause extensive damage.
According to him, these individuals operated with strategic precision, planting “landmines” across the party hierarchy—each designed to explode at intervals that kept the PDP in perpetual chaos.
The lawyer argued that the intention behind these disruptions was unmistakable: to weaken the PDP so thoroughly that it could no longer mount a credible challenge to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)—“not even in a local ward election.”
Ruling party’s intolerance
He lamented that Nigeria’s political tragedy is not solely rooted in the ruling party’s intolerance for dissent, but also in the troubling presence of what he termed “willing saboteurs within the opposition constitutionally required to checkmate the government.”
Such figures, he said, undermine the very democratic values they claim to protect.
According to Ejiofor, a functional democracy depends on a vibrant, intellectually grounded, fearless opposition.
He described the opposition as the “brake system” of democratic governance—one that must compel accountability, interrogate government decisions, refine public policy, and enforce moral boundaries that prevent national leadership from sliding into tyranny.
“How is this possible,” he asked, “when those entrusted with defending the sanctity of the opposition become co-authors of its destruction?”
Ejiofor criticized those calling for “reconciliation,” “amicable settlement,” or internal arbitration, insisting that such efforts are futile when dealing with individuals allegedly committed to destabilizing the party from within.
“You cannot reconcile with a man whose life ambition is to burn down the house while pretending to fix the roof,” he said.
In his extended commentary, the rights lawyer explained that he ordinarily refrains from delving into partisan conflicts.
Silence counter-productive
But in this instance, silence, he said, “would be an accessory to mischief,” given the scale of the alleged damage inflicted on the PDP over the years.
He described the party’s failure to act earlier as a grave dereliction of duty. The PDP, he argued, “had one job: apply the sledgehammer early—decisively and boldly.”
Instead, the leadership continually postponed difficult decisions, “kicking the can down the road until the road itself began to disappear.”
Ejiofor traced the origins of the crisis to 2023, following Wike’s unsuccessful attempt to secure the PDP’s presidential nomination.
He suggested that the seeds of discord were sown shortly afterward, with calculated internal disruptions that left the party fractured, weakened, and unable to present a united front during critical national moments.
The Human Right lawyer stressed that the damage done to the PDP was not coincidental but followed a clear script, executed “with almost military discipline.”
Party’s haters
“The individuals involved never had the party’s interest at heart. Instead, their ambitions revolved around personal political survival—what he called their “political oxygen.”
Ejiofor argued that some of those who remain in the federal cabinet today do so not because of expertise or competence, but because they possess a talent for political maneuvering that benefits those in power.
Despite the criticisms, the lawyer acknowledged that the PDP’s decision—however belated—marks an important turning point.
He described the expulsion of Wike and others as the party’s “first honest step in years” toward restoring dignity, rebuilding internal order, and sending a message that indiscipline, sabotage, and double loyalty will no longer be tolerated.
He maintained that history will view the action not as revenge but as “an overdue correction of an existential injustice”—one that may help reposition the PDP as a credible, functional opposition capable of fulfilling its constitutional role.
While cautioning that the expulsion is only the beginning of the reform the party urgently needs, Ejiofor insisted that the PDP must now rebuild its internal structures, reassert its ideological clarity, and re-ignite public confidence if it hopes to challenge the APC meaningfully in the years ahead.
For him, the real work has just begun—but at least, he said, “the long-awaited sledgehammer has finally landed.”
