How Atiku Has Failed To Unite & Lead PDP
It’s quite unfortunate that the Peoples Democratic Party couldn’t find its way to power since 2015 when former President Goodluck Jonathan lost to the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari. The internal matter snowballed and consumed the political party.
The burden of leading the now opposition party was on the former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who flew the flag of the party in 2019 and 2023 presidential election. By being the presidential candidate, he becomes the leader of the party. And he ought to play his roles in such a way that the party would be on the track for victory in the polls.
Crises started fully during the presidential primary election. Nyesom Wike lost to Atiku Abubakar in a fair exercise. But he was not ready to work with the candidate of the party based on preexisting issues. The winner of the election, Atiku couldn’t bring all hands to deck and work for the success of the party in the general elections. The PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku, lost.
It’s not clear that the former vice president has given up. His comments and activities after the 2023 elections show he is still interested in the job of the president. However, he has not made any attempt to unite the party after the elections.
Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party is divided. A larger percentage of the party is loyal to the governor, Ademola Adeleke while another one is keenly interested in Dotun Babayemi. Although the latter’s influence is not that tangible, nevertheless, the party shouldn’t be polarized. Has Atiku ever made attempt to close the rift and settle the crisis?
Online Parrot News reported that a fragment of Dotun Babayemi’s loyalists have defected to the All Progressives Congress. The news agency contacted some of the members who confirmed that they had joined the APC and their principal, Dotun Babayemi would return to the same party.
The former vice president stood aloof while the crisis between Godwin Obaseki and Philip Shaibu, the Edo State governor and deputy respectively reached a head. He failed to settle the matter and lead the party out of the wood.
Of course, there are some states whereby Atiku doesn’t have footholds. But there is no doubt that Godwin Obaseki stood by him through thick and thin. It shouldn’t be difficult for the former vice president to convince Obaseki to let peace reign. Now Shaibu has been impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly.
The impeached deputy governor would slug it out in the court and his loyalists will most likely foil the chances of the PDP to retain the south-south state. Would Atiku Abubakar continue to let the crisis spiral? He is not performing the duty of a party leader. He is obviously interested in using the party to contest and achieve his political bid.
About fifty members of the House of Representatives have threatened to quit the party if the national acting chairman of the party doesn’t leave. They have asked Damagum to resign. What has actually happened? If there were a true and charismatic leader, they wouldn’t call for his head like that.
The former vice president is busy attacking and criticising President Bola Tinubu, his opponent in the 2023 presidential election while his political party is falling apart. He should have engaged in self-appraisal and seen how he has failed to unite and lead the political party.
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