The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has dismissed speculations that he was planning to dump the party for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, assuring that he was not leaving the party.
Atiku, while speaking with women members of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, who visited him to help save the party from total collapse, insisted on a coalition to push out the APC-led government in 2027.
He stated that the coalition movement was not just a political strategy, but also a necessity to challenge the ruling party and rebuild the country.
The former Vice-President told the women, led by the former Minister of Women Affairs and ex-National Women Leader of the party, Hajia Inna Ciroma, that the coalition was a workable one that would assure good results.
He added that the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, the ruling party in the Second Republic, had formed an alliance with the Nigeria Peoples Party, NPP, known as the NPN-NPP accord, saying when the coalition was achieved, the name of PDP would not be affected.
He reportedly told the women about the status of the pan-Nigerian coalition he was building in conjunction with other leaders and stakeholders across political divides and regions.
Atiku also informed the women that the movement was being powered by Nigerians desirous of reclaiming and rebuilding their country from across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
Speaking on the nature of the visit, the leader of the PDP women BoT, Inna Ciroma, said: “We, as PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, members—the conscience of the party—decided to take this bold decision to come into the crisis the party is going through.
“We, as mothers, are worried and disturbed by what the party is going through at the moment. We are disturbed that the party has no leadership, and any organisation without leadership cannot stand. We are worried and disturbed. We cannot fold our arms and see things go bad in our great party.
“We decided to visit former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to complain about what we are not happy with, to brainstorm with him on the way forward, on how to save the party from total collapse. We told him there must be leadership and direction in the party. We had very fruitful discussions with the 2023 presidential candidate of the party.
“He told us he was not leaving the party, as he discussed much on the coalition and the need for us to key in. We also discussed party funding, that parties should be well-funded so that no single person can control it.’’
