There’s a new development in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that suggests top leaders may be turning their backs on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in favor of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde.
This move comes just a week after PDP governors brokered peace among party factions. Despite calls to maintain the status quo, Nyesom Wike’s loyalists on the PDP National Working Committee are now backing Makinde for the 2027 presidential election.
It appears that Wike and other party chieftains are still unhappy with Atiku’s candidacy, citing concerns about his ability to win and his handling of party dynamics.
The logic, according to multiple sources, is to truncate the ambition of Atiku and stop the party from conceding the ticket to the former VP, who they complained has become a ‘serial contestant.’
According to The Punch, some party chieftains who spoke under anonymity admitted that they were yet to forgive the former PDP presidential candidate for bungling their biggest chance to return to power in 2023.
Wike and Makinde, alongside Samuel Ortom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Okezie Ikpeazu, former governors of Benue, Enugu and Abia states respectively, had worked against Atiku’s election in 2023.
A few members of the NWC, who did not want to be identified, also felt Atiku was always seeking to experiment with the PDP and had not shown enough zeal to win it.
They also feared that he may no longer be a sellable candidate in 2027 because of his age, hence the need for a younger and more vibrant candidate like Makinde.
Makinde has openly declared that he is qualified to contest and would push for the 2027 presidential election agenda when the time is right.
The governor stated that “he is old enough to speak for himself on any issue without fear or intimidation,” adding that he would do so publicly if he had anything to say about his political future.
The governor also cautioned Nigerians against allowing the country to slide into a one-party state.
Efforts to get the reaction of the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba and the deputy spokesman, Abdullahi Ibrahim, were unsuccessful.
When contacted, Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, declined to comment on the intrigue.
But the former VP’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said that they were not under any form of pressure over the choice of Makinde as was being speculated.
