Suswam: PDP governors’ stance on coalition, merger out of touch with reality

Gabriel Suswam, former governor of Benue, says governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot reject merger talks ahead of the 2027 elections without first addressing the party’s internal crisis.

Speaking on ‘The Morning Show’, a programme on Arise Television, Suswam said the recent resolution by the PDP Governors Forum is “out of touch with reality” and does not reflect the mood among party members and stakeholders.

He said although PDP remains prominent party, it is currently grappling with unresolved issues that must be fixed before the dismissal of coalition efforts.

“PDP is about the only legacy party that we have in this country,” he said.

“Ordinarily, the resolutions of the governors would have been something that would have resonated very well with a lot of PDP followers.

“But, as it were now, I don’t think that statement, to me, is an absolute statement. Yes, they should fix PDP, but there are a lot of questions that go with it. Is it not too late in the day?

“The expectations from the followers of PDP was that the governors would have taken the steps they had taken a long time ago.”

Suswam said he would not have backed such a resolution if he had been part of the forum’s meeting.

“I don’t think that, to me, if I was part of taking that or passing part of that resolution, I wouldn’t be that obsolete because, you know, there’s no consultation among the stakeholders of PDP,” he said.

“People have waited all this while. There are very fundamental problems in PDP. Those problems have not been sorted out.

“People are just disgruntled and disenchanted with the whole thing. So, if you find people talking about or engaging in merger talk, it’s arising from the disenchantment among the followership of PDP.”

On Monday, governors elected on the platform of the PDP ruled out the possibility of a merger or coalition ahead of the 2027 poll.

The governors made their position known in a communiqué, after a meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

Also reacting to the resolution, Dele Momodu, the publisher of Ovation Magazine, alleged that PDP governors opposed to the coalition may secretly be working for Tinubu.

Speaking on Arise Television on Monday, Momodu said none of the leading opposition parties can singlehandedly unseat Tinubu.