2027: Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso merger talks ongoing – PDP spokesman

…As PDP summons Wike over anti-party activities

Ibrahim Abdullahi, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) deputy national publicity secretary says discussions are ongoing for a possible merger of Nigeria’s three leading opposition candidates in the 2023 presidential election. These are Atiku Abubakar of the PDP; Peter Obi, of the Labour Party, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).

Abdullahi disclosed this during Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday. He said the trio would put personal interests aside and form a formidable alliance to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) come 2027.

Abdullahi said that had the PDP’s past leadership managed the party’s internal conflicts well, ranking chieftains like Nyesom Wike, Kwankwaso, and Obi, would still be full-blooded members of the PDP, and the party would have defeated Bola Tinubu of the APC in the 2023 election.

He said, “We’ve lost Kwankwaso, we’ve lost Peter Obi, all of these people, imagine if they are in the party, we would have won the election.

“This APC said they defeated us with one million plus (votes), just one of these names that I mentioned would have covered that gap for us and we would have been in power today and certainly Nigerians would not have been confronted with this despair and despondency in the land.”

Asked if the PDP was trying to get Obi, Kwankwaso, Wike and others back into the party, Abdullahi said, “Sure, discussion is ongoing. You will see Peter Obi discussing with Atiku, you will see Peter Obi meeting with (Nasir) El-Rufai.

“Party management is a very difficult thing and we are doing the best in the quagmire that we have found ourselves. But there would be light at the end of the tunnel. We have painfully learnt our lessons.”

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In the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu came out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states and secured significant numbers in several other states to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.

Atiku, who has run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while Obi, a first-time contestant, secured an unprecedented 6,101,533. Kwankwaso, former Kano State governor, finished fourth, claiming victory in his state — Kano. He secured 1,496,687 votes.

Interestingly, Obi and Kwankwaso were PDP members months before the last poll but cited irreconcilable differences as reasons they exited the party.

Asked what would happen if Obi and the others returned to the PDP, he said, “One of them would concede for the other and then we would have a direction.

“Our concern as a party and to these people that I have mentioned is to ensure that we salvage Nigerians from this despair and despondency, between maladies of hunger and frightening insecurity in the land. You could see cluelessness and ineptitude on the part of these people managing this country.”

The PDP chieftain said salvaging Nigerians out of the present hardship is more important than the individual ambitions of the trio.

He said, “Atiku is saying if that’s better he should get Nigeria out of this hopelessness, he would do so.

“He (Atiku) must not be in the race. Atiku is saying that it is an entitlement to him as a democrat; the constitution provides for him that he could contest at any time.

“What he is trying to say is that there is no ceiling stopping him from contesting. That is his fundamental democratic right but he is not saying that he will force it on the throat of the party or the country.

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“I am telling you clearly: Peter Obi is suitably qualified; he can aspire and we will support him if he gets the ticket. Atiku is suitably qualified and if he gets the ticket, we will rally behind him and give him the desired support to salvage Nigerians out of this situation”, said Abdullahi.

Meanwhile, the PDP has summoned Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over alleged anti-party activities. Wike was summoned to appear before the PDP disciplinary committee.

Abdullahi, who also disclosed this during the Channels TV programme, said the former Rivers State governor had been sent a letter to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee.

Abdullahi added that Wike’s statement about putting fire in states under the control of the PDP was unacceptable.

According to him, “Wike should be able to manage his words carefully; that was a very disappointing remark. We weren’t expecting him to say that, and we are not with him on that, to be honest with you.”

The position of the PDP was made known hours after Wike expressed his contentment with serving under President Bola Tinubu, despite the criticisms and speculations surrounding his appointment.

The FCT minister had declared that anyone angry with his position in Tinubu’s government “should go and hug the transformer.”

Wike, a member of the PDP since 1999 and the only opposition member in Tinubu’s cabinet, made the statement during the state congress of the PDP in Rivers State last weekend.