Diran Odeyemi, former deputy national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is largely controlled by Atiku Abubakar and his loyalists.
Speaking on Politics HQ, a programme on News Central TV, Odeyemi said Abubakar moved his political allies into the party.
“ADC, if you want to know, is Atiku Disciples Congress,” he said.
“He moved his people to that place. So if any presidential candidate or hopeful joins ADC today, that will be the end of his dealings with ADC.”
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He said Abubakar would have won the 2023 presidential election if he had chosen Peter Obi as his running mate.
“If Atiku is so smart to pin down Obi as his vice-presidential candidate, he would have been the president today,” he said.
Odeyemi added that Abubakar’s refusal to concede to the demands of the G5 governors — including removing Iyorchia Ayu as PDP national chairman — was another costly mistake.
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“If he is the right person that will make a decision and say ‘this is what I stand for’, Ayu would have been removed according to the demands of the G5,” he added.
The PDP chieftain said he was not sure Abubakar’s advisers assessed the political situation before key decisions were taken.
“I am not sure the people who are strategising for him studied the situation before he embarked on any decision,” he said.
On the possibility of a Goodluck Jonathan comeback, Odeyemi said Abubakar would leave the ADC if the former president joins the party.
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“The way I want to see it now is just to see if Jonathan will come to ADC. And if Jonathan comes, Atiku will leave ADC, just take that,” he said.
On August 8, Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa, said Jonathan is the PDP’s best option for the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, Lamido urged the party to “woo” Jonathan back into its fold.
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