Obi Would Defeat Northern Candidates On PDP Platform — Jerry Gana

A founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Jerry Gana has suggested that the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Mr Peter Obi, would outshine any opponent in Nigeria’s northern region, if he contested on the PDP’s ticket.

Speaking on Arise TV on Wednesday, Gana said, “I’m a researcher, and I research opinions. In the northern states, Peter Obi under the PDP will defeat any candidate, because our people are very fair minded.”

LEADERSHIP recalls that Obi quit the PDP in May 2022 to lead the Labour Party during the 2023 elections.

Reflecting on the PDP’s pedigrees, Gana maintained that the party has grassroots strength and pivotal role in restoring democratic governance.

“I must confess that many people have forgotten that the PDP was created as a grassroots organisation. In 1998, we were formed and then, moving to the elections in 1999, we were in every polling unit, because we are the ones who really won the first election.

“Many people have forgotten that the PDP won most of the local governments. When it came to the presidential elections, we won the presidency, we won the Senate, and we won the House.

“We were totally in control, and that is why we were very delighted that we restored democracy to Nigeria and re established civil rule. Because for a number of years there was military rule, but we successfully terminated that in a very democratic way, so the PDP was really as it were, a grassroots party. That’s why when we said ‘Power to the people’, we meant it, because that was what it was, and it has been like that.”

On recent conflicts within the party, Prof Gana downplayed their scale, saying, “So, when this recent problem happened, it was really among a few elites here in Abuja. It didn’t even go beyond.”

Gana, who served in key roles during Nigeria’s transition to democracy, including Minister of Information and Cooperation from 1999–2003 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, also hinted at equity in party zoning, adding, “In 2031, it will be the turn of the North. Our people are very fair, and we are building a nation.”