Ahead 2027, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has revealed cooperation talks are going on among three political heavy weights in the country – former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi and former Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Abubakar was the PDP presidential candidate in last year’s election while Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) also in the 2023 general election, were once highly regarded members of the PDP.
Earlier today (Monay, September 2) Deputy National spokesman of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, said the three heavy weights are discussing the possibility of merging to save Nigerians from hunger and widespread insecurity ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
According to him, the three opposition candidates in the last election would put personal interests aside and form a formidable alliance to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027 and “save Nigerians from hunger.”
Abdullahi lamented the failure of the party’s previous leadership to effectively manage the party’s differences and internal conflicts, saying if it had done so, high-ranking chieftains such as former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike, Kwankwaso and Obi would still be full-fledged PDP members, and the party would have defeated Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the most recent election.
“We have lost Kwankwaso, we have lost Peter Obi, all of these people; imagine if they were still in the party, we would have won the elections,” he declared.
“This APC claimed they defeated us by one million or more votes; just one of the names I mentioned would have covered that gap for us, and we would have been in power today, and Nigerians would not have been confronted with this despair and despondency in the land.”
When asked if the PDP is attempting to reintegrate Obi, Kwankwaso, Wike, and others, Abdullahi responded, “Sure, discussions are ongoing.”
“You will see Peter Obi discussing with Atiku and meeting with (Nasir) El-Rufai. Party management is extremely difficult, and we are doing our best in the situation. You could rest assured that there would be light at the end of the tunnel. We learnt our lessons bitterly,” he said.
In the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu won 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states and received significant support in several others, claiming the most votes — 8,794,726, nearly two million more than his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.
Atiku, who has run for president six times, received 6,984,520 votes, while Obi, a first-time candidate, received a record 6,101,533. Kwankwaso, the former Kano State governor, finished fourth and won his home state of Kano. He obtained 1,496,687 votes.
Interestingly, Obi and Kwankwaso were PDP members months before the last election but left due to irreconcilable differences.
Who is going to step down?
When asked what would happen if Obi and the others returned to the PDP, he replied, “One of them would concede to the other, and we would have a direction.”
“Our concern as a party and to the people I have mentioned is to rescue Nigerians from this despair and despondency, between hunger and terrifying insecurity in the country. You could see the cluelessness and ineptitude of the people in charge of this country,” he declared
The PDP chieftain stated that saving Nigerians from the current hardship is more important than the trio’s ambitions.
“Atiku is saying that if he should get Nigeria out of this hopelessness, he will do so,” Abdullahi said.
“He (Atiku) should not be in the race. Atiku claims that as a Democrat, he has the right to run for office at any time, as stated in the Constitution.
“What he is attempting to convey is that there is no ceiling preventing him from contesting. That is his fundamental democratic right, but he does not intend to impose it on the party or the country.
“Let me be clear: Peter Obi is qualified; he can aspire, and we will support him if he gets the ticket. Atiku is suitably qualified, and if he is elected, we will rally behind him and provide him with the necessary support to get Nigerians out of this situation.”
Meanwhile, in a riposte to FCT Minister’s threat to put fire in any PDP State threatening to oust him of the party, the former national ruling party has said that no individual member is above the party, warning that the disciplinary panel can summon any member.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, who stated this earlier while speaking with journalists at the party’s national Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja, gave the warning while responding to a question on the threat by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT), Nyesom Wike, to cause problems for any PDP Governor, who interferes in the crisis in the Rivers State, disclosed that the party leadership has directed its Disciplinary Committee to summon Wike.
The PDP Governors Forum at its meeting in Jalingo, last week, had sided with Rivers Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, in the battle for the control of the PDP structure in the Niger Delta state.
However, the FCT Minister, while speaking at the Rivers State Congress of the PDP, last week, had lashed out at his formr brother-Governors, threatening to cause problems for any of the opposition party governors, who would dare to meddle in the party’s affairs in Rivers State.
Ologunagba, while fielding questions from journalists, said the PDP recognizes the stabilizing and reconciliatory efforts of its Governors, expressing confidence that they would respond appropriately to the Minister.
“The Governors Forum remains one of the most potent organs of this party. We recognize their stabilizing and reconciliatory roles. The Governors Forum is a body that has its own regulations and they respond to issues like this when it comes, especially as it concerns them,” Ologunagba said.
“What we know is that nobody is above this party. You can take it home. It is like justice. The wheel of justice grinds slowly but it grinds well. What we know is that this party because it is the Peoples Democratic Party and we have Governors that are very committed to this party; what we know is that we trust our Governors to do that which is needful to ensure that there is stability in their states. We trust in their ability to stabilize this party, because we know they are stabilizing their states. ”
The opposition party spokesman, who noted that the every member of the PDP is subject to the rules of the party, said the Chief Tom Ikimi led National Disciplinary Committee is empowered to summon any erring member, noting, however, that it is not in the place of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) to dictate to the Disciplinary Committee how to discharge its assignment.
“What we have done is that we have followed our constitution to set up organs or bodies in line with the constitution. We have given them the mandate to do certain jobs. It will not be appropriate to preempt them in that assignment. We trust their judgement. We trust their capacity and their commitment to democracy. It won’t be appropriate for us to begin to preempt a process that just started,” Ologunagba stressed.
“We gave them terms of reference. And we don’t as NWC interfere in that working. We know that they are men of integrity. And in their wisdom, the Disciplinary Committee can invite anybody who is a member of this party. Anyone; to speak to them.
“And they can make their determination. And they can make their recommendations in their report to the NWC; which of course we will consider and forward to NEC for approval or amendment as the case may be.
“So, it is not for me to say who will be called. I am not a member of the Disciplinary Committee. And NWC does not give you a job and begin to monitor you, because we trust you will do the right thing.”
