The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly defended Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde against accusations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding his address at the Opposition Political Parties National Summit held in Ibadan on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The party described the APC’s reaction as a deliberate misrepresentation aimed at distorting a clear historical advisory into an alleged call for violence.
Governor Makinde, who hosted the summit attended by leaders from various opposition parties, referenced the historical “Operation Wetie” crisis in the old Western Region. He used the episode as a cautionary tale about the dangers of poor governance, political repression, insatiable greed, and the potential consequences of public frustration under authoritarian tendencies not as an incitement to violence.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said: “The use of history in the way and manner done by Governor Makinde in the said speech served as a caution and advisory to the Federal Government, the APC, and other national institutions, of the unmitigated crisis that their actions and inactions can result in. Only a guilty aggressor can interpret it to mean a threat or call to violence. It is common knowledge that those who do not learn from history are doomed by it.”
The PDP further noted that current political developments under the APC bear striking similarities to the events that led to the “Operation Wetie” tragedy, both in intent and execution. The party accused the ruling APC and the Federal Government of engineering a slide into “elected totalitarianism” while attempting to shift blame for any potential unrest.
“The current slide into elected totalitarianism has been entirely engineered by the APC and the Federal Government. They cannot decry the effect while remaining willfully blind to the cause and to their own culpability in it,” the statement added.
The PDP also reminded the APC of its own past rhetoric while in opposition, including open promises to make the country ungovernable and references to the “baboon and blood” narrative. The party maintained that any responsibility for election-related violence would lie with the Federal Government, the APC, INEC, and institutions tasked with defending democracy.
Reacting to the summit, the APC’s Oyo State Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, had dismissed the gathering as unserious and described Makinde’s remarks as a “threat” that should not be taken lightly, while asserting that no violence would mar the 2027 elections.
The opposition summit focused on strategies for a united front to challenge the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections, with emphasis on protecting Nigeria’s democracy from any drift toward a one-party state.
The PDP reiterated its commitment to democratic principles and warned against actions that could undermine peace, while urging all stakeholders to learn from history rather than distort it for political gain.