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 bewooed 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
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.
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.