2027: Amid Defections, Atiku Says No Grudge

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has opened up on the defection of his former running mate, former Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, his successor, Governor Sheriff Oborievwori and other PDP leaders in the state to the APC.

Atiku who shrugged off the defection as a fundamental right of their expression of freedom of association in a democracy, said he bore no grudges over their action.

He added that the coming political battle is not APC versus PDP, or LP versus APC, but Nigerians versus Tinubu’s administration which he said had plunged the nation into untold suffering.

He described the current political moment as one of collective survival, adding that the real enemy is Tinubu administration’s abysmal failure.

Barely a week after PDP governors distanced themselves and the party from Atiku-led coalition movement to oust President Bola Tinubu in 2027, governors, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom and Oborevwori declared support for Tinubu’s second term bid.

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Oborevwori however took the move further by defecting alongside his predecessor, Okowa, and declaring the collapse of PDP structures into the APC.

LEADERSHIP had in January exclusively reported that no less than five PDP governors would jump to the APC.

Commenting on the effect on the party, the acting national chairman, Amb. Umar Illiya Damagum, yesterday vowed to reclaim the party’s structure in the state, adding that the party needs people, not governors, to win elections as proven by the Labour Party president candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, who won states without having an incumbent governor.

The national official, who pleaded for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue as it involved PDP governors, said the comments of the PDP acting national chairman, Damagum, was an attempt to keep up a bold front.

Besides Damagum, other party leaders including, former Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Segun Showunmi, had tried to encourage party members not to lose hope over the Delta defection.