Makinde: PDP Unaware of Atiku’s Coalition Agenda

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde yesterday shed light on the rejection of coalition, alliance and merger proposed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

He said the merger or coalition talks are unknown to the main opposition party.

The Oyo State governor said: “We didn’t just wake up and say me as xyz in the party just draw the party into any arrangements when the party organs do not have clue on what you are doing.

“They have no clue of what is in this coalition. They also have no clue whether this is personal or whether you are doing this in best interest of the party and the people of Nigeria. Those are critical.”

He spoke on a television programme.

The former vice president on March 20 at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, along with some others, including Malam Nasir EL-Rufai, declared the formation of a coalition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 election.

The governor reiterated the resolution of the PDP Governors’ Forum, which distanced itself from the coalition.

Defending the communique of the meeting, Makinde said the resolutions reflected the wide consultations with party stakeholders.

Emphasising that the Ibadan meeting was validated by the leadership of his party, he pointed out that the governors did not only meet as PDP Governors’ Forum, but they also invited the managers of the party.

He added: “The acting National Chairman, National Legal Adviser and the National Organizing Secretary were there with us. Other members of the NWC were waiting around the venue of the meeting, just in case there would be any need for them.

“We decided to tackle headlong the challenges within our party, and I’m quite glad we were able to make those decisions.”

Makinde added: “There must be a process. If the managers of the party, the organs of the party are going into a merger or coalition, there’s need for the managers of the party to know.

“But, if you have individuals, it is still within their right to associate with whoever they want to associate with. However, as a party, we haven’t gotten there. Our first assignment is to put the party on a sound pedestal.

“Politics is a game of interest. You must be interested, you must have alignment with the wider organs of your party before you go out to meet other people.”

The governors also rejected the claims by Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Monday Ude-Okoye to the position of the National Secretary.

But rejecting the Forum’s directive that the Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshoedo, should act as secretary in the interim, Anyanwu said it contradicted the judgment of the Supreme Court on the party’s leadership crisis.