LAGOS — To present a formidable opposition to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2027 general elections, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, South-South Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Ogidi, has said the party will hold high-level meetings with its former presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and 2023 Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Atiku was PDP’s presidential flag bearer in 2023, and in 2019, with Obi as his running mate. He also served as vice president on the party’s platform between 1999 and 2007. Already, Atiku and Obi have joined the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Speaking on Channels Television programme, yesterday, Ogidi emphasised that the consultations are key to restoring the PDP’s national influence.
His comment elicited immediate response from the Obidient Movement and the ADC, who picked holes in the said efforts to woo Atiku and Obi back to the PDP.
While the Obidient Movement said the PDP is in crisis and cannot lure Obi back, the ADC wondered how the two political leaders, who recently left the main opposition party, could be wooed back just as Atiku said the ADC was the way forward and was willing to work with other parties to save Nigeria.
“We’re doing the rounds. We have already seen a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and a another former president, IBB. It’s all about seeing those who are important in Nigeria to tell them that we are alive and we’re moving. I know you’re going to ask me about Obi. Yes, we also have plans to see Peter Obi.
“Even Atiku Abubakar, as the former vice president of the country, we are going to meet him. You see, PDP is the real face of democracy in Nigeria,” Ogidi said on the breakfast show.
On Tuesday, members of the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, met with ex-president Goodluck Jonathan who served as the country’s leader on the party’s platform.
The group, led by the National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki, and other party chieftains, met Jonathan at his Maitama office in Abuja.
Turaki told journalists: “We have his assurance that he remains an active, card-carrying member of the PDP and feels obliged to support the party; the PDP has done enough for him, and he will try his best to do more for the party.”
He said the former president’s remarks were “very reassuring and encouraging as we prepare for off-season elections in Ekiti and Osun, and the 2027 general elections.”
Consultations ongoing
Indeed, sources told Vanguard, yesterday, that series of consultations are ongoing to perfect many scenarios that might play out in 2027.
One of the sources said: “Consultations are going on. Sooner or later, the details will begin to emerge. I don’t want to pre-empt the outcome of the consultations. But I can assure you that the consultations will yield concrete results.”
ADC, not PDP, is way forward — Atiku’s camp
However, the camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said yesterday the ADC is open to working with other opposition parties and individuals, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to reports of planned consultations by the PDP leadership, Mazi Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar, told Vanguard: “You know the hands of the coalition party are open, very open. The coalition party is willing to expand its course and partner with those who are focused on rescuing Nigeria from the real malaise of the rule of Tinubu and the APC.”
Ibe explained that the ADC, of which Atiku Abubakar is a member, was already engaged in discussions, aimed at forging collaboration among opposition forces ahead of the next general election.
He, however, maintained that the ADC remains the most viable platform for opposition alignment going forward.
“To that extent, the ADC, of which Atiku Abubakar is a member, has spoken about discussions that would bring about collaboration. Already, they are in the process of holding discussions with parties or individuals who believe that Nigeria and Nigerians deserve a better view than they are currently getting.
‘’ADC is the way forward. You understand what I’m talking about? Yes, it is the way forward,” he added.
Wooing Atiku, Obi to where?
Contacted on the issue, the National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, laughingly said: “Wooing which Atiku? Which Obi? Is it Obi, who joined ADC a few days ago? Wooing them to where?
‘’You are talking about a party that has a leadership crisis and factions. Who will sign the nomination forms of the candidates? Are they going to get out of the mess before the election? Who will take that kind of risk?”
Asked if the ADC would go into a coalition or alliance with the PDP to face President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the 2027 poll, he said: “Democracy is a game of numbers. We welcome anybody who is ready to work with us to rescue Nigeria from the APC.”
The PDP, the party that ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2015, has been embroiled in crisis in the wake of the 2023 elections, which it lost to the All Progressives Congress.
At the moment, two groups are laying claims to the leadership of the party at the national level, following the party’s convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, where the PDP expelled bigwigs, such as FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and ex-governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose.
PDP in crisis, can’t woo Peter Obi, says Obidient Movement
Meanwhile, The Obidient Movement, a pressure and support group working for Obi, has dismissed moves by the PDP to court the former Anambra State governor, insisting that the party’s unresolved internal crisis weakened any attempt to lure Obi back, ahead of the 2027 polls.
Reacting to reports of planned consultations by the PDP leadership, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, who spoke to Vanguard in Abuja, questioned the logic and credibility of the outreach at a time the party was grappling with internal disputes.
“Well, they are making overtures to him, but you know, the problem is that the party has issues at the moment now,” Yunusa said, arguing that extending an invitation to a key political figure to return to a party facing internal challenges raised fundamental questions about coherence and direction.
’So if you say you are making an overture, for him to go back to where? Where there are problems? Those are the issues. So you have to consider that,” he added.
VANGUARD.
