Jerry Gana: PDP is now a solid platform — we’ve reached out to Obi to return

Jerry Gana, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says steps are being taken to bring Peter Obi back into the party.

The former minister of information and ex-presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) spoke on Friday when he featured on Focus Nigeria, a programme on AIT.

Obi, the former governor of Anambra, resigned from the PDP on May 25, 2022, ahead of the 2023 elections.

Obi left the PDP days before its presidential primary, stating that “recent developments in the party do not support constructive contributions”.

The former governor was to participate in the PDP presidential primary scheduled for May 28, 2022, before he left the party.

On May 27, 2022, Obi joined the Labour Party (LP), where he became the standard-bearer and contested the 2023 presidential election.

‘PDP REACHING OUT TO FORMER MEMBERS’

When asked during the programme if the party had contacted Obi about returning, Gana responded, “Why not?”

Gana said if he were former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, he would have dropped his presidential ambition in 2023 and supported Obi.

Obi came second to Abubakar, who ran under the PDP platform in the election.

Gana said he leads the delegation that the PDP has set up to lobby its former members to return.

“He [Obi] is not the only person. We are also moving to other persons. But I don’t want to announce until we really get there,” he said.

Gana said the PDP crisis is over, adding that the party is now a “credible alternative” for the 2027 elections.

“I have a very solid platform. I can now go back to these people and say the platform you were complaining about is now set, proper, and ready to move. I know many of them would respond,” he said.

Gana described the nation’s economy under the All Progressives Congress (APC) as chaotic, with soaring commodity prices and many Nigerians struggling to afford necessities.

The former minister added that the opposition party is ready to take power in 2027.