Former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gbenga Hashim-Olawepo, says members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) asides Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar are complicit to Nigeria’s recent political and economic troubles.
He said this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday while responding to questions on possible defection.
According to him, many of the emerging ADC members were not outsiders to the system Nigerians are angry with, but central players in it.
“For me, it’s PDP, PDP, PDP. ADC is not an option for me. Because I believe ADC, Apart from maybe Peter Obi and Atiku Abubaka, most of the players in the ADC were part of the recent problem that you’re talking about.
“The ADC elements are all Buharists. They’re part of the whole problem. The problem of weaponizing religion in Northern Nigeria. They’re part of the problem.
“Insecurity, they’re part of the problem. Bankrupt economy, they’re part of the problem. So you will not say that because you have an issue with President Tinubu’s non-performance, then we should be seeking an alternative from people who are really part of the creation of the problem.
“You cannot go from the frying pan to the fire. Going from PDP to ADC is going from frying pan to fire,” he stated.
Hashim-Olawepo also rejected the growing narrative that the 2027 election should be decided along regional lines, describing zoning as a distraction from the country’s real challenges.
“It is a dubious narration to say it is the turn of the North or the South. The next election should be about competence, not zoning,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria’s deepening insecurity, economic hardship and democratic decline require leadership capacity rather than ethnic or regional entitlement.
He cautioned that recycling divisive politics, especially those that previously exploited religion and identity, would further weaken national cohesion and delay recovery.
“The country is too fragile for sentimental politics,” he said, adding that Nigerians must interrogate the records of those presenting themselves as alternatives.
Hashim-Olawepo maintained that genuine opposition and credible leadership, not shifting alliances of familiar faces, were essential to rescuing Nigeria’s democracy and economy.
Furthermore, he described the ongoing crisis within the PDP as unprecedented in his years in the party.
He accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and his allies of actions he said had gone “overboard” and pushed the party into a dangerous free fall.
“I have never seen this kind of behaviour in the PDP,” Hashim-Olawepo said.
“Factionalisation is not new, but what is happening now is reckless and disastrous.” he said, naming Wike, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and their allies as central actors in the dispute.
According to him, the internal dispute was being exploited by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to weaken opposition politics, warning that Nigeria was drifting towards a one-party state.
“This APC government will do whatever it takes to ensure there is only one party in this country,” he said, claiming that forces aligned with President Bola Tinubu were complicit in the PDP crisis.
Despite the defections, court battles and leadership disputes rocking the opposition party, Hashim-Olawepo insisted that the PDP remained bigger than individual politicians.
“The big men can go,” he said. “The PDP is not owned by anyone. It is a people’s party, guided by rules, and no one is bigger than it.”
He maintained that while the PDP was currently weakened and struggling to play its role as a credible opposition, its survival was crucial to Nigeria’s democracy.
“We cannot allow democracy to die. Leadership in Nigeria must move away from recycled faces and regional sentiments to competence, accountability and ideas,” he insisted.
