‘PDP Governors Are Not With Atiku, His Days Are Numbered In The Party’ – Aide

The former Special Adviser on Research and Strategy to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Umar Ardo, has said governors on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are not with its presidential candidate in the aftermath of the 2023 election and Supreme Court judgement.

Naija News reports that Ardo, made this known in an interview with PUNCH while speaking on the poor handling of the disagreement between Atiku and the G-5 governors.

Giving an objective analysis of the situation in PDP, Ardo references how Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, extolled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after the Supreme Court verdict and intervened in the crisis between Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike and Rivers State Governor, Sim Fabura.

According to him, Atiku’s days are numbered in the PDP if he fails to suspend his presidential ambition and take the position of a statesman.

He said, “I want you to know that as Vice President, I was Atiku’s adviser on Research and Strategy, but when he stopped listening to my advice, I pulled back and watched him. He made so many errors that denied him the presidency; he so much believed that it was his to pick on a silver platter.

“But to answer your question, I didn’t say the PDP will suspend Atiku. I only made what I see as an objective analysis of the political situation of the party on the ground. It is reasonable to assume that the press conference Atiku held after the Supreme Court judgment on his appeal was significant enough for the key members of the party, of which the governors are central, to attend.

“Many of them were in Abuja, but none attended his press conference; only for them to meet and congratulate Wike, Atiku’s key opponent in the party, in less than 24 hours of his appointment. They also pacified him (Wike) on the crisis he was having with his governor. They immediately moved straight to hold a press conference and endorse the judgment of the Supreme Court, which Atiku vehemently disagreed with.

“After that, the Chairman PDP Governors Forum, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, visited the Presidential Villa and addressed the press there, extolling the leadership virtues of the President (Bola Tinubu) for intervening in a purely PDP affair. What are all these supposed to tell you? It is an indication that the PDP governors are simply not with Atiku; which means his days are numbered in the party unless he drops his presidential ambition. If he does that, then the governors will all rally around him and pour all sorts of encomiums on him as the best statesman in the country just to gain his support for their various ambitions.”