ADC Coalition: "The Real Issue," PDP Chieftain Shares Actual Reason Atiku Resigned from Party
- A Kwara state PDP chieftain, Otukoko Olayinka Ibrahim, said the party cannot die with the exit of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
- Atiku, the PDP presidential candidate in 2019 and 2023, recently announced his resignation from the party, citing what he called 'intractable issues'
- In an interview, Ibrahim slammed Atiku's resignation from PDP and gave a hint on why the presidential hopeful left
Legit.ng Kwara state correspondent Atanda Omobolaji has over 3 years of experience covering politics and elections in Nigeria.
Ilorin, Kwara state - A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara state, Otukoko Olayinka Ibrahim, has said Atiku Abubakar resigned from the party because his presidential ambition was threatened.
Ibrahim, the coordinator of the Kwara State PDP Youth Council, spoke on Tuesday, July 22, during a live broadcast on Diamond FM, Ilorin, monitored by Legit.ng.
Source: Facebook
According to him, it is "wrong and unfair" to say that Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), pushed the former Vice President out of the PDP.
Recall Messrs Wike and Atiku had been locked in a protracted face-off.
Wike had argued that it was the turn of Southern Nigeria to produce the country’s president in 2023.
Atiku hails from Northern Nigeria, where the then-outgoing President, late Muhammadu Buhari, also comes from.
During the PDP primary election, Wike lost to Atiku, who emerged the party’s flag-bearer for the 2023 election.
The then-governor formed an alliance with four other governors aggrieved with Atiku and the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
Wike led the group called G5 Governors.
Apart from Wike, other members of the group included Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu state), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and their Oyo state counterpart, Seyi Makinde.
The group had demanded Ayu's resignation to allow a southerner to lead the party and achieve a “regional balance.”
They argued that both Ayu and Atiku hail from northern Nigeria.
Source: Facebook
The feud worsened after Atiku refused to pick Wike as his running mate.
Atiku later lost in the 2023 presidential election after coming second with 6,984,520 votes behind the eventual winner, Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 8,794,726 votes.
The G5 governors’ withdrawal of support for Atiku was said to be among the reasons for the PDP candidate’s loss at the poll.
While some of the G5 governors supported Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), others backed the APC’s Tinubu, now Nigeria’s president.
Wike supported Tinubu of the APC in the election and “helped” him to “win” in Rivers despite being a PDP state.
Tinubu subsequently appointed the former governor as the minister of the FCT.
Wike has remained in the PDP despite serving as a minister in the APC-led federal government.
'Atiku's exit won't kill PDP'
Commenting on Atiku's exit from the PDP and the perennial presidential aspirant's decision to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition, Ibrahim criticised the recently-formed alliance platform, alleging it was solely created to advance Atiku’s presidential ambition ahead of the 2027 election.
He expressed frustration over the repeated presidential ambitions of Atiku, describing the 78-year-old as 'a serial loser who has continued to derail the party’s chances at the polls'.
The PDP youth leader said:
“The newly-formed ADC coalition is for one person's agenda, and that person is Abubakar Atiku. The coalition is formed to serve his agenda.
“Atiku is the driving force of the ADC coalition in Nigeria today, and anybody working with him there is simply being used.”
The PDP youth leader pointed out that Atiku has contested for the presidency six times since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, and his planned 2027 run would mark his seventh attempt.
“If you are in a party that has programmes and policies, Nigerians should start asking why PDP keeps giving the ticket to Atiku every time. Why always Atiku?” Ibrahim asked rhetorically.
He further alleged that Atiku anticipated resistance within the PDP over another possible candidacy, prompting him to back the ADC coalition as a backup platform.
Ibrahim added:
“Atiku knows that there is going to be a revolution against him in PDP that may affect his chances of getting the presidential ticket. That is what led to the formation of the ADC coalition we are seeing today."
'Atiku, a liability to PDP'
While acknowledging that Atiku has a constitutional right to contest as many times as he wishes, Ibrahim insisted that his continued presence on the PDP ticket has been counterproductive.
His words:
“There is no crime if Atiku wants to contest again, even for the 20th time, but the truth is, his ambition is now a liability to the PDP.
“It is wrong for Atiku to say it was (Nyesom) Wike that pushed him out of PDP. That would be unfair. The real issue is that Atiku sees his ambition threatened within the party.”
Furthermore, Ibrahim noted that PDP stakeholders loyal to former Senate President Bukola Saraki, including himself, have refused to follow Atiku into the ADC coalition.
He stated:
“We didn’t join Atiku in ADC because we don’t see ourselves as pushovers. In PDP, we are already tired of the repetition of Atiku all the time. Each time he contests, we lose."
Ibrahim claimed that the PDP leadership had conducted an internal review of its recent electoral defeats and found Atiku’s recurring candidacy to be a contributing factor.
He said:
“The party (PDP) already did an assessment on why we kept losing the previous elections, we discovered that one of the reasons was Atiku."
Ayodele releases prophecy on ADC
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Primate Elijah Ayodele, the spiritual head of the INRI Evangelical Church, predicted that the ADC will collapse before the 2027 election.
The cleric said for the ADC to be relevant, the platform has to go an extra mile "physically, spiritually, technically, and by all means".
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Source: Legit.ng
Ridwan Adeola (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content creator with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion. Email: ridwan.adeola@corp.legit.ng.
Atanda Omobolaji (Kwara State Correspondent)
