Despite Party Crisis, Turaki Claims over Four million Nigerians Registered for PDP

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Despite the leadership crisis plaguing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Tanimu Turaki-led party claimed it had registered over 4.2 million Nigerians as mandated by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the digital e-registration of members.

The party said the number was ongoing at the end of the initial deadline of March 31, 2026, before the extension by INEC.

The party further said male members stood at 2,336,069, outnumbering the females by a little above nine per cent (1,928,606).

Addressing newsmen to give an update on the e-registration of members of political parties, as directed by INEC, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Emeombong, said, “Data on our portal indicates that our Ward Registration Agents, as at midnight of March 31, 2026, recorded a total of 4,264,675 (four million, two hundred and sixty-four thousand, six hundred and seventy-five) members.

“While our members are clearly more than this number, it is needful to commend those who have kept faith despite the current challenges we have faced in the recent past.

“This, for us, is a constant reminder of the responsibility that we carry to ensure that the political future of these millions of Nigerians is not put in jeopardy, nor their decision made to be subservient to another party, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

Emeombong said, “If they wanted to join the ruling party, they would have easily registered with them, with the numerous enticements that are usually concomitant with registering there.

“This digital membership registration has shown clearly that the politicians are defecting, not the electorate.”

He said, “Looking beyond the total, there is need to disaggregate this data to see what it says about critical demographics and other profound contexts.

‘’The average registration at the polling unit level is 24 members, while we have 484 as the average number of members in each of the 8,809 wards across the 774 local governments of Nigeria.”

The PDP spokesman stated, “Furthermore, male members stood at 2,336,069, outnumbering the females by a little above nine per cent (1,928,606).

“In terms of age, young people aged 18–40 constitute 40.3 per cent of the entire registration, while people aged 41–60 years are 30.7 per cent, and those from 61 years and above are 28.9 per cent.

“This is clearly indicative of the acceptance of the party at all age levels, with young people outnumbering other age groups.”

Emeombong explained, “When we look at the registration from a geographic perspective, the South-west is leading with 953,954 members, followed closely by the South-south with 917,652 members, trailed by the North-central with 757,502 members.

“’The North-west has 754,935 members, while the North East has 646,305, and the South-east recorded 234,327 members.

“A deeper look reveals that Kaduna State had the highest registrants with 408,915 members, followed by Edo State with 378,033 members, trailed by Oyo State with 368,204 members. Ogun and Kano have 316,311 and 275,786 members, respectively.”

He disclosed, “On the slide presented, you will find a conscious attempt to highlight several nuanced interpretations of the data up to the LGA and ward levels.

“This show of confidence by these millions of Nigerians, as evidenced by their registration with our party, places on us, the leadership, a concomitant responsibility to protect and safeguard their future.

“They are dissatisfied with the current maladministration of the Tinubu APC-led federal government, where killings and insecurity have become the new normal for Nigerians.”