PDP State Chairmen Lampoon Defectors, Vow To Rebuild Party

Despite the bold posturing of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders after the collapse of its Delta State structure into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the pro-President Bola Tinubu stance of some PDP governors, morale within the party has hit an unprecedented low, a top party source confided in LEADERSHIP Sunday yesterday.

But PDP state chairmen have promised that they won’t allow the party go under at their level just as they lampooned those who have dumped the party.

Different state chairmen, who spoke with LEADERSHIP yesterday, said the party would bounce back better.

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

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. Besides the recent defection in Delta, the party had lost several federal and state lawmakers as well as prominent members to the APC after the 2023 election. They all blame the internal crisis rocking the party for their defection.

Commenting on the effect on the party, a top PDP national official, who spoke in confidence with LEADERSHIP Sunday, said the pro-Tinubu stance of some PDP governors and recent high-profile defections in Delta State was deeply worrying.

The acting national chairman, Amb Umar Illiya Damagum, had 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’s presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, who won states without having an incumbent governor.

But the national official, who pleaded anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, 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 Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Chief Olabode George and Chief Tom Ikimi, had tried to encourage party members not to lose hope over the Delta defection.

The party chieftain said, “As much as some of our prominent leaders are trying to boost the morale of party members, I must tell you that the confidence of members is quite low and it’s understandable so. To be candid, it has been so for a long time. But we were just hoping that leaders would demonstrate courage and patriotism in doing what was expected to get the party on track again.

“It was sad enough that the party’s governors have not been able to take firm position on the party’s pre and post 2023 election crisis which then spiralled into the national chairmanship crisis and split in the NWC, Rivers crisis, secretaryship crisis and inability of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to meet.

“And so, for them to outrightly rule out the coalition idea, while not showing any serious sign of resolving the pending crises within, shows they had other priorities rather than ensuring that the party was formidable enough as an opposition and a viable platform to challenge the ruling party.

“Ultimately, what, I think, has befallen the party is the combination of ego and post-second term ambition of the senior governors, and lack of interest, empathy, experience and fear by most first term governors.

“Yes, we can make the case that there is pressure from the ruling party but, as top members and insiders, we know that that is not the whole story,” the party leader said.

 

State chairmen optimistic of party’s future…

Unfazed by the defections, PDP state chairmen maintained that the party has the capacity to rebound.

On his part, the PDP chairman in Kwara State, Hon Babatunde Mohammed, called on all members, stakeholders and supporters of the party across the state to remain calm, united and resolute in the face of the recent developments in the national political landscape.

Mohammed said while defections and political realignments might appear disruptive, they are neither new nor unfamiliar in its history.

“What is important at this moment is for us in Kwara State to view these events, not as a setback, but as a challenge to recommit ourselves to the cause of rebuilding our party from the polling units to the ward, local government and state levels.

“As a party, it’s our belief that Dr Saraki’s recent message on the defections although directed to the entire nation, it is not only a national clarion call but a direct charge to Kwarans to close ranks, ignore distractions and channel our energy toward reclaiming the state in 2027,” he said.

Mohammed acknowledged the concerns of some PDP members following the defection of certain individuals in the Delta State chapter but described the development as a “necessary phase of purification.”

He noted that those who left the PDP only made it obvious that they are insensitive to the plight of the people who suffer from the current economic crisis caused by the poor governance and lack of clear economic policies of the APC government.

On their part, the Bauchi State PDP said there is no reason for any of its members to defect, citing the positive governance style of the state administration and the strong unity among its members.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday, the publicity secretary of the PDP in the state, Dr Dayyabu Chiroma, expressed optimism that the party is poised to achieve sweeping victories across all elective seats in 2027 due to the strong unity among leaders and stakeholders and the visible development projects across the state.

“You know, when you look at other states where members defect to other parties, it is often due to fear of facing the opposition. For instance, in Delta State, the present governor may feel that although he won the 2023 election, he might not succeed in 2027 without switching to the APC. However, here in Bauchi, the PDP has remained united.

“It’s only one time APC won Bauchi; that is in 2015. However, when you compare the administrations of Ahmad Muazu and Dr Isa Yuguda to the tenure of M.A. Abubakar (APC), it is clear that the PDP’s records stand taller. M.A. Abubakar’s APC-led administration is one of the most disappointing in the state’s history,” he said.

Dr Chiroma further stated that Governor Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir is currently delivering on his promises, bringing infrastructural development and improving the welfare of the people, thereby earning the trust and satisfaction of Bauchi residents.

He stressed that with such achievements and the unity among party stakeholders, there is no incentive for defections.

Also, the PDP chairman in Kaduna State, Edward Marsha, said as much as the defections might be worrisome, PDP would surely bounce back stronger and better.

The party chairman said the PDP would soon hold a meeting where decisions that will better the affairs of the party will be taken, just as he averred that Nigerians have been “living in hell” under the rule of the APC.

“Generally, as a chairman of the PDP in the state, losing a member should be a source of concern particularly of a member that is valuable. The recent situation where the 2023 vice presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa and the structure of the party in Delta State handed over to the APC is painful because we all know that since the return to democracy, Delta State has always been a PDP state.

“The situation calls for actions and necessary review and to sit down and ask. So many questions are being asked, yet answers are not forthcoming. We should be talking about what we need to do as a party and what area needs to be focused on by our leaders at the moment.

“We as members of the PDP in Kaduna State even before now have taken so many steps to keep our members together, hence the establishment of a reconciliatory committee under the leadership of Alhaji Mikati shuaibu who has gone round and interfaced with aggrieved members and areas where things were done wrong, we are making necessary corrections with required measures,” he said.

In Oyo State, the PDP chairman, Hon Dayo Ogundare, described the recent defection in the party as devastating.

The party chairman, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, however noted that while defection was not new in the country, the defection in Delta State could be as a result of two reasons: shamelessness, and the fear of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which is after Okowa.

“We are in trouble in this country; not the PDP alone. People are leaving the party, others are preparing to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC). This is because there is no clear-cut of political ideology.

“After eating from one political party, they can decide after they might have finished what they were eating to leave the party for another. This is the bane of political development in the country. Our leaders must behave like good people,” he said.

However, the party chairman declared that despite the defections, the PDP was going to come back stronger, saying “We cannot have one-political party system in the country. If anyone is planning or thinking Nigeria can become one-party state, that person is on his own.”

Similarly, the Sokoto State PDP chairman, Hon Bello Goronyo, has counselled politicians on the need to be circumspect in their thinking noting that defection should be the last resort in politics.

He however expressed shock with the latest defection gale that swept the entire party structure in Delta State but consoled himself that, “the party will rise again.

“It is unfortunate that the decision to decamp was taken at a meeting in Asaba. The politicians did not get back to the people of the state and seek their opinion, or maybe, their opinion doesn’t count.

“I wondered what the motives of the defectors are. Imagine after staying in PDP, where the immediate vice presidential candidate rose from a federal lawmaker, through governorship and vice presidential candidate in an election that is barely halfway.”

On what the party leadership is doing, keeping the party afloat in the state, Alhaji Goronyo said, “We are always meeting to feel the pulse of the people and up till this moment, the entire structure of PDP in Sokoto State, are all together with us.

“For now, we are card-carrying members of the PDP and defection is not in our agenda.”

In Osun, the PDP chairman, Hon Sunday Bisi attributed the defections from the PDP to the desperation and the fear of the unknown by the ruling APC at the national level, by using force of coercion and some other underhand tactics to get people into its fold preparatory to the 2027 general elections.

Speaking through the party’s director, Media, Mr Hezekiah Oladele Bamiji, the chairman however expressed optimism that the PDP remains the party of the people adding that there is no cause for alarm. He said that while some self-seeking ones are leaving, “others that have the political will to rescue Nigeria from the APC’s bad administration are coming in.

“PDP as a party has nothing to fear though because it is a party of the people and the people will speak appropriately at the right time. We are really unfazed with the trend because what it means is that if APC is performing to satisfaction of Nigerians, they won’t be this desperate to force their party on other Nigerians.

“Democracy is about the people and if the same people are relegated to the background for personal ambitions of the defectors, then the country is in danger.”

On his part, the caretaker PDP chairman in Ondo State, Hon Bakita Bello, said those leaving the “party right now are either driven by inordinate personal ambitions or desperately seeking conversion from sinners to saints.”

Bello, who spoke with LEADERSHIP in Akure, the state capital, noted that the masses are already taking notes of “these mercantile politicians.”

Speaking through the state director of Publicity, Mr Leye Igagbo, the PDP chairman said, “A former APC national chairman, Sen Adams Oshiomole, once propagated the theory of that ‘devilish’ political metamorphosis.

“So, if anyone is driven by the reason(s) highlighted above, how should a party feel ruffled or baffled by such a self-centred agenda?

“You ask yourself: what is it that has gotten better or improved that could have warranted any sincere person to join the APC? Has the security situation fared better? Innocent people are being gruesomely massacred daily without any form of resistance.

“In those days when dead bodies were displayed in the market square, it became an abomination that would require the elders to appease the gods! But today, corpses are being littered in front of the governor’s office and the governor does not care a hoot!

“And then you see some people migrating towards such an accursed party. Something must be wrong with such defectors and they sincerely need our sympathy.

“It is important for an organisation to allow disloyal, insincere and unreliable people to take the exit route for the betterment of such an organisation.”

In Ekiti State, the chairman of the PDP caretaker committee, Chief Dare Adeleke, said the gale of defections have no negative impacts on the party in the state.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, the PDP chairman said the state chapter of the party is undeterred by the development as PDP is also gaining more members from the APC.

“When something is political, that means it is constitutional. So, whenever some people are trying to shift the base, it allowed and it is part of the politics. But as those people are leaving PDP for APC, some are also trooping into the PDP.

“It is a welcome development but the fact is that those people that left the PDP, it is quite unfortunate for them not even for the PDP. This is because they will definitely regret their actions. The likes of Ifeanyi Okowa. We knew the situation behind it. It’s about the N1.3 trillion that EFCC alleged he has embezzled. May be, he used that as bargaining power. We are not bothered about that but is exactly what will happen. So, let him continue to battle with the EFCC case while we continue to braze our party.

“The defection is in both directions. We are not just noisemakers like them. For instance, in Ekiti State, quite a number of people have decamped to the PDP from the APC. We don’t have to go on the streets and start shouting halleluyah that some people have decamped to the PDP. Though, it is a celebrity case in the case of Delta State, yet there are some people that are coming into the PDP stronger.

“The likes of Omo-Agege are coming. So, you think they will stay in APC when nothing is being done for them.”

He added that Delta State is a PDP stronghold, and nobody can take the state away from the PDP.

In Delta, the erstwhile PDP state chairman, Chief Solomon Arenyeka, has explained why the state chapter of the PDP decided to join the ruling APC.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday, he said that remaining in the PDP, given its current challenges, would not advance the development of Delta State or its people.

According to him, the decision to leave the party was carefully and primarily taken to avoid leading the state and its citizens into a bleak future.

“In Delta, the PDP was actually strong before our decision to move. So, it’s not a question of the PDP being weak in Delta that led to this development.

“You will recall that since 1999, when the present republic began, the PDP has held sway in Delta and made significant in-roads in the state.

“This was not just the governor’s decision, but a collective one. In a democracy, the majority view matters, and PDP leaders and stakeholders in Delta called on the political family to join the APC to advance the growth and development of our state.

“The people felt the PDP no longer offered a viable political future, and they did not want to fade into political irrelevance, hence the move.

“This move is to ensure the continued progress and welfare of our people, which is why we are in politics in the first place,” Arenyeka said.

Also, the Delta State Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, recalled what happened to the APC in Zamfara in 2019, where all elected candidates were removed due to irregularities in the party’s nomination process.

“With what is happening in the PDP, we believe the efforts to address these issues are not strong enough to prevent a similar situation in 2027,” he said.

He appealed to party members to work together to ensure unity and electoral success both in the state and across the country.