Olusegun Ariyo
The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Governors Forum, have distanced itself from a coalition of opposition politicians.
The Forum under the leadership of the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, said it won’t join any alliance ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
It disclosed this during a meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday.
The Forum also heightened the crisis over the authentic national secretary of the party by backing the Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshoedo, as Acting National Secretary.
Recall that PDP’s former presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had announced the birth of an opposition alliance.
The coalition is believed to include former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and ex-Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, among other politicians.
Atiku had said the coalition is aimed at removing President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
The announcement of the coalition came after El-Rufai defected from the All-Progressives Congress to the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
El-Rufai had accused the APC of a lack of internal democracy since Tinubu assumed power.
However, former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Adewale Adebayo, had said Atiku and Obi were in talks to join the SDP
He said if Atiku, Obi and other prominent politicians willing to join SDP can stick to the party’s culture, they would defeat and retire Tinubu and the APC.
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Buba Galadima said El-Rufai was Atiku’s placeholder in the SDP should the PDP deny him its presidential ticket.
