PDP: Discussions ongoing to bring Kwankwaso, Obi back to our party

Ibrahim Abdullahi, deputy national publicity secretary of the PDP, spoke on Monday when he featured on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television.

Abdullahi said if Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election; and Rabiu Kwankwaso his counterpart in the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), were members of the PDP during the election, the party would have defeated the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Kwankwaso and Obi dumped the PDP in March and May 2022 — months before the 2023 presidential election.

“We have lost Kwankwaso, we have lost Peter Obi — all of these people — imagine if they are in the party, we will have gone to win the elections,” he said.

“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 is working to bring Obi, Kwankwaso, and others back to the party before the 2027 election, Abdullahi retorted: “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. Rest assured, there would be light at the end of the tunnel. We have learnt our lessons in a bitter way,” Abdullahi said.

Bola Tinubu of  APC secured a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the PDP who got the second-highest figure with 6,984,520 votes in the 2023 presidential election.

In the buildup to the election, the PDP was embroiled in an internal crisis with five governors in the party refusing to back Abubakar at the time.

Several months after the election, the crisis within the opposition party has continued to escalate.

The PDP recently inaugurated reconciliation and disciplinary committees to help “build a stronger and more united party that is ready to serve the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians”.