Former President of the Nigerian Senate and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Reconciliation Committee, Dr. Olubukola Abubakar Saraki, on Friday emphasised that the major focus of his reconciliation committee is addressing the underlying issue why members are defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
The former Kwara State governor also warned that the worst is yet to come in the gale of defections as one or two more governors could abandon the party. He was however confident that with the efforts being made, the party would be well positioned for the 2027 elections.
Speaking on ARISE News Prime Time programme on Friday night, Senator Saraki dismissed the insinuation that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike is the biggest problem of the party.
He also weighed in on the earlier rumoured resignation of the national chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, stating that “Either way, clearly something is going on there. Clearly there’s some minor, mild, major upheaval going on. The National Chairman of a ruling party is not ever rumoured to resign unless there’s some trouble.”
Admitting ongoing defections in the party, Dr. Saraki hinted that more may be expected. “Well, at this time… PDP would see, likely see, you know, one or two more defections. And we should prepare ourselves for that. There is a possibility”. Asked if the suspended Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara could be one of them, perhaps due to pressure on him, Senator Saraki said “Maybe Fubara, maybe others. I speak to some of our colleagues, as we sit down and plan and strategise, we say, look, the worst is not yet. We haven’t seen the worst of the defections for PDP. We’ll probably see one or two governors who will defect. We might see some senators that will defect…”
He however asserted that “What is key is the reconciliation of the PDP. Let’s do that first and I think the results will be seen in the action. What is the action? We will resolve the issue of secretary, we will go to NEC, we will go to convention. That is my brief. My brief is to ensure those three things, and I believe we can still do that with the other problems of the party”.
According to him, “People are decamping; they are decamping to say look, we think that the party will not have a platform for me to contest election. Assure me that I can contest election in the PDP and I will stay in PDP. That is the primary focus now that we must address…
“They want a party that is stable. We have to take our problems step by step. My brief is clearly let’s address the issue of secretary, let’s address the issue of having a NEC, let’s address the issue of having a national convention. I am confident that by the time we do that, other issues you are seeing will significantly reduce”.
Saraki insisted that as head of the party’s reconciliation committee, they have not failed, but rather laying groundwork for unity and structure.
He said, “As far as (INEC is) concerned, the person that they see as a secretary, as of today, is Senator Sam Anyanwu.”
The former governor stated that “Until this point, none of us had accepted any secretary. We’re starting the process of doing the right thing. So, if we can address the issue of the secretary, then we can go to NEC, then go to convention, and then hopefully at convention we will have a newly elected executive.”
On why the party had continued to ignore Wike despite being a major spanner in the works, Senator Saraki said “we are not ignoring the issues. There are bigger issues that we need to address now. If we form factions and at the end of the day it cannot allow our candidates to contest elections…Let me give you an example. Let me tell you what’s happening right now. We had a problem in Anambra; we nearly could not have a candidate for the election. FCT primaries, that is what we are battling now”.
Senator Saraki disagreed that the PDP is a sinking ship, contending that “It is not a lost cause. A party of over 26 years of history… It is doable. We just have to take those steps one by one to rebuild the party”.