Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been excused from the ongoing coalition talks due to its “incurable virus”.
He said the coalition’s technical committee is examining whether the alliance should register a new party or adopt and upgrade an existing one.
Babachir said this while speaking on Arise Television’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Wednesday.
The former SGF said the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is a committed and active member of the group championing the coalition campaign to wrest power from President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
According to him, the coalition is mostly driven by politicians who agreed to form an alliance against the ruling party.
When asked why the meetings and conversations about the coalition spearheaded by Atiku have not featured the PDP, Babachir said the PDP has an incurable virus.
“In all the meetings I’ve attended so far, nobody has ever bothered about adopting the PDP as the platform. We all agree that PDP has an incurable virus.
“No antibiotics can cure what is ailing the PDP and we don’t want to go into a house that we cannot modify that is not willing to change,” he said.
Babachir disclosed that the politicians behind the coalition opposition would soon announce their new platform to assuage the anxiety of Nigerians who are worried about the coalition’s political party.
While ruling out Atiku’s strong position in the PDP, the former SGF implied that Atiku may dump the party anytime soon once the coalition is formed and a party is adopted.
The PDP has been enmeshed in a leadership crisis before the 2023 presidential election over its presidential election primary which was won by Atiku.
The protracted crisis led to five governors including current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, endorsing the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu who eventually won the election.
While its National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu was ousted in the hope that the party would eventually regain its unity, it sank deeper into crisis with calls for National Congress to elect substantive executives being rebuffed by the current acting executives.
Also, the unresolved crisis concerning the position of the National Secretary has seen the party dragged to court and has remained unresolved.
The crisis in the party has forced many top members including governors, senators, reps among others to defect to the APC.
Some PDP governors, senators among others have also endorsed Tinubu for reelection.
The three senators elected on the platform of the party on Wednesday endorsed Tinubu for reelection.
