Atiku’s Exit From PDP Not New, We Expect His Return – Damagum

Acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Amb. Iliya Damagum, has described the resignation of former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the party as a familiar and recurring development in PDP’s political history.

Speaking with newsmen in Bauchi yesterday, Damagum said: “This is not the first time; we’re expecting him back.”

According to him, the PDP is neither shocked nor overly concerned about Atiku’s exit, adding that the party was already accustomed to his repeated exits and returns over the years.

The acting national chairman stated that the former vice-president’s movement aligned with a historical pattern, implying that the party viewed his latest resignation as part of his political strategy rather than a final break from PDP.

Damagum further hinted that the party’s calm response stemmed from the confidence it had in its own resilience or skepticism over the permanence of Atiku’s decision.

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This, he said, was sequel to reports that he was forming a new political platform, Alliance for Democratic Congress, in preparation for future elections.

Atiku’s resignation from PDP came as he spearheads the opposition coalition movement to oust President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

He and other opposition like-minds recently adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the opposition coalition.

But this is not the first time he left the PDP. In the run-up to the 2007 election,  Atiku left the PDP, where he served as vice president, for the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

He left the then ruling PDP after a protracted battle with then president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

He emerged ACN’s  presidential candidate election but lost to late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of the PDP.

Atiku returned to the PDP after his romance with ACN crashed ahead of the 2011 presidential election. He contested the PDP’s presidential ticket but lost to then president Goodluck Jonathan.

In 2013, Atiku pulled out of the PDP alongside five northern governors to form the nPDP, which later joined the APC in 2014.

He returned to PDP in the build-up to the 2019 election after he fell out with power blocs in the APC. He emerged the PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 and the 2023 elections.

However, the former vice president cited irreconcilable differences with PDP’s current leadership for his recent resignation from the party.

In the letter dated July 14, 2025, and addressed to the chairman of PDP, Jada 1 Ward, Jada local government area of Adamawa State, Atiku described his resignation as “heartbreaking,” adding that his departure was necessitated by a deviation from the foundational principles on which the PDP was built.