Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have firmly rejected speculation of supporting a joint presidential ticket featuring former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai for the 2027 elections.
The PDP Governors’ Forum, led by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, issued a strongly worded statement on Saturday, denouncing the rumours as “unpleasant and provocative.”
The statement, released by the Forum’s Director General, Emmanuel Agbo, came in response to media reports suggesting that five PDP governors were backing the proposed Obi/El-Rufai ticket within the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Forum dismissed these claims as the work of “negative forces and their agents” seeking to undermine the PDP’s unity and democratic values.
In the statement, the PDP Governors declared, “It is incumbent on the PDP Governors’ Forum through its leadership anchored by the Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, to openly denounce and in very strong terms, the unpleasant and provoking publications and rumours being peddled ad nauseam by negative forces and their agents.”
The Forum accused these “mischief makers” of attempting to create a one-party system in Nigeria, stating, “Unsatisfied with the results their clones have gotten in the low-willed factions they keep financing within our party structure, they have proceeded with direct confrontation on the Governors towards creating a one-party entrapment, with intention to split the opposition and thereby cripple democratic institutions and values.”
The governors emphasised their commitment to upholding democratic principles and improving the lives of Nigerians. They stated, “Our principles are for equity, social justice, sincerity of purpose, accountability, enthronement of undefiled electoral process, enhancement of the lives of the people, and propagation of humanity.”
Reaffirming their loyalty to the PDP, the Forum declared that they would support any candidate who emerges as the party’s flag-bearer for the 2027 presidential election.
“In 2027, PDP Governors as disciplined leaders and stakeholders will exemplify this by wholeheartedly supporting whoever emerges as the flag-bearer of our great party in the battle to wrestle power from the non-performers at the centre,” the statement read.
The PDP Governors also took aim at the ruling APC, accusing the party of failing to address Nigeria’s economic challenges. They claimed that the APC’s “failed economic policies and programmes” have left ordinary Nigerians in poverty and financial hardship.
The statement concluded with a call for unity within the PDP and a rejection of attempts to destabilise the party. “We will not allow these enemies of progress and agents of confusion to gaslight the Nigerian people to draw wrong and erroneous conclusions,” the governors asserted.
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