PDP leaders failed us — but our party won’t collapse, says Usman Okai

Usman Okai, national coordinator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youths Frontier, says the party remains resilient despite recent defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

On Wednesday, Sheriff Oborevwori, governor of Delta and other party stakeholders in the state, defected from the PDP to the APC.

“We came to the inevitable conclusion that moving out of the PDP is very, very necessary for us to be able to collaborate with our kith and kin and build that state that every Deltan will be proud of,” Charles Aniagwu, Delta state commissioner for information, announced.

Speaking on TVC on Friday, Okai said defections are a recurring theme in Nigerian politics and should not be seen as a death knell for the PDP.

“We are used to it. It’s becoming a norm, as far as Nigerian politics is concerned,” he said.

“Yes, we regret what happened in Delta state. And as you can see, Nigeria’s reaction is completely different.

“While the harvesting party, which is the ruling party, is celebrating, Nigerians are saying, what are they bringing differently?”

He said the situation presents an opportunity for the PDP to reflect and reposition itself.

“But just as the former governor of Kwara state (Bukola Saraki) said, this will create an opportunity for the party to rejig itself, reappraise itself, reassess, and then think of the next way forward,” he said.

“So there’s nothing new. While some are leaving, others are coming.”

He said internal deals in Delta state led to the defections, adding that more politicians may soon leave the APC.

“I can tell you authoritatively, look at Delta, somebody like Ned Nwoko left because Governor Sheriff promised Okowa the senate ticket, where he comes from. But today, Okowa has gone to APC,” he said.

“Ovie Omo-Agege, who said he can’t stay in the same place with Governor Sheriff… but I can tell you authoritatively, that the likes of Ovie Omo-Agege, the likes of Ned Nwoko and co, are likely to be on their way (to the PDP).”

Okai said the only advantage the APC holds is its control of presidential power.

“The only advantage they have is they are ruling, they have the power of presidency,” he said.

He added that internal crisis exists in all political parties.

“Now, you can’t take away crisis, internal crisis, from any party. Look at the SDP. You are hearing the altercation between el-Rufai and those that were there before,” he said.

“The former candidate of the party, presidential candidate, was challenging el-Rufai.”

He criticised the leadership of the PDP, saying it has failed to provide direction.

“The leadership has failed. Those who contested for the last election, like our presidential candidate (Atiku Abubakar), have failed to provide leadership, so there is a lack of leadership and that is the reality,” he said.

He, however, expressed optimism that a new leadership would emerge at the party’s next convention in September.

“We can’t collapse, other people are coming up. While these current leaders are failing, the new leaders are coming up,” he said.

“I am coming up as one of the leaders of the party and so many of us are coming up. So, I think by the time we have our national convention coming September, all these things will be addressed.

“The new leadership will come in and the new idea will be mainstream and the party will have the way forward.”

Reacting to the defections, Felix Morka, national publicity secretary of the APC, said it is not the responsibility of the ruling party to strengthen the opposition.

Morka dismissed suggestions that the APC is weakening democracy by receiving defectors from other parties.