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Distinguished members of the National Executive Committee, leaders of our great party, elders and stakeholders, ladies and gentlemen.

I warmly welcome you all to this important meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party. It is with deep gratitude and optimism that I welcome you not only to today’s NEC meeting, but also into the year 2026. I extend to every one of you my heartfelt wishes for a happy new year, a year of renewed strength, unity, and progress for our party and our
country.

Let me, at the very outset, commend you most sincerely for your resilience, your patience, and your unwavering commitment to the rule of law and respect for due process.

In the face of severe trials and provocations, members of this Committee and leaders across Our party stood firm. You chose the difficult but honourable path of legality, constitutionalism, and institutional discipline. History will record that when it mattered most, you placed the survival and integrity of the party above personal ambition and temporary convenience.

The year 2025 was, without doubt, a testing and refining period for our party. It was a year in which the PDP passed through intense internal challenges, largely occasioned by actions of some of our respected members who regrettably veered away from established procedures and due process.

These actions exposed our party to enormous judicial and
institutional challenges. However, as with all great institutions, the PDP did not collapse under pressure. Rather, the party was refined, strengthened, and reoriented by the trials it faced.

Recent events have clearly vindicated the position taken by this National Executive Committee, The judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, which declared the Ibadan Convention null and void, has provided much-needed legal clarity and institutional certainty. More importanty, that
judgement has conferred existential credibility on great party as presently the leadership of our great constituted, led by my humble self, Alhaji Abdulrahman Muhammed, as Chairman, National Caretaker Committee, and my brother, the very
Distinguished Senator Samuel Anyanwu, as National Secretary. This outcome did not come by accident.

It is the reward of your collective decision to stand on the side of the law, to respect due process, and to defend the constitution of our party.

With the endorsement of our leadership by a competent court of law, we are today firmly positioned to roll out our activities without hesitation or uncertainty. We are now ready to proceed with the conduct of outstanding state and regional
congresses, and to prepare diligently for a credible and constitutionally compliant national convention.

The cloud of uncertainty has lifted, and the path forward is now clear.

This victory in court is not a victory for any individual or group. It is a victory for every member of the People’s Democratic Party. It is a victory for internal democracy, for institutional order, and for the supremacy of the rule of law within political all, it is a victory for parties in Nigeria.

Above
democracy itself. We therefore emphasize, very strongly, that in this process there are no absolute losers.

Every member who believes in the PDP, every Nigerian who desires a strong opposition anchored on legality and principle, has gained from this outcome.

In that spirit, I call on all members of our great party, at every level, to iettison divisive tendencies and destructive rhetoric Now is the time to heal wounds, to rebuild trust. and to come together with renewed purpose. We must channel our collective energy towards building a stronger, more inclusive,
and more disciplined party that is capable of offering Nigeria a credible alternative and a hopeful future.

On behalf of the National Executive Committee, I wish to express our profound gratitude to our visionary national leader, His Excellency Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, for the leadership he provided during this very trying period. His intellectual depth as a political thinker, combined with his several factors contributed significantly to the defence of legality and constitutional order within our party.

We also extend our sincere appreciation to members of the reconciliation committee who, in good faith and with a deep of responsibility, cautioned against actions that w were not in tune with due and respect for the rule of law. Their counsel was timely, patriotic, and well intentioned.

In the same vein, we renmain grateful to the very Distinguished Senator Bukola Saraki, who consistently insisted that all actors must follow due process and respect the supremacy of the law, even when such counsel was unpopular or inconvenient.

Distinguished members, the task before us is enormous, but our resolve is strong. The PDP has once again demonstrated that it is a party governed by rules, guided by law, and capable of self-Correction. With unity of purpose and fidelity to our
constitution, we will reposition our party for electoral
success and national relevance.

It is therefore my honour and privilege to formally welcome you all to this National Executive Committee meeting. I thank you for your steadfastness, your loyalty, and your belief in the
ideals of our great party. I wish you fruitful, peaceful, and constructive deliberations.

May God bless you all, bless the Peoples Democratic
Party, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.