2027: ‘Step Aside, Atiku’ – Ex-Lawmaker Urges PDP Reset As Defections Mount ….calls For Southern Ticket As Internal Crisis Rocks Party, Key Leaders Decamp To APC

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria 

In what appears to be a turning point for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a former federal lawmaker, Tajudeen Yusuf, has called on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to forgo his presidential ambition in 2027.

He warned that continued internal strife could cost the party its very soul.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, Yusuf lamented the deepening cracks within the opposition party, attributing them to an unwillingness among some leaders to shelve personal ambitions for party unity.

He urged Atiku to demonstrate statesmanship by supporting a Southern presidential candidate in line with the PDP’s original zoning structure.

“If I have my way, I will advise former Vice President Atiku: leave PDP ticket. Let it go to the South. Even if we don’t win the presidential election, we would have been seen as returning to our founding principles where positions were zoned,” Yusuf said.

The former House of Representatives member, who represented Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency, Kogi State, stressed that the South-South and South-East regions, traditionally the PDP’s strongholds, have grown disillusioned.

“You just come and pick a ticket… people will start losing hope,” he warned, alluding to Atiku’s two-time shot at the presidency under the PDP banner.

The interview came on the heels of a fresh wave of defections that rattled the party’s base in Delta State.

In a stunning political realignment, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy Monday Onyeme, and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, along with several PDP stalwarts, decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday.

Their exit, analysts say, underscores a broader erosion of confidence in the PDP’s direction.

Yusuf described the defections as “self-inflicted,” accusing some PDP governors of engineering a breakdown within the party to justify their crossover to the APC.

“Some of the governors allowed the situation to fester deliberately. They’re orchestrating a crisis they can then blame for their betrayal,” he said.

The PDP, which once held the reins of power at the federal level for 16 uninterrupted years, has struggled to reinvent itself following back-to-back electoral losses and unending internal wrangling.

The 2023 general election saw the party divided by a North-South power tussle, with Atiku’s candidacy heavily contested by Southern stakeholders, especially after the party jettisoned its zoning formula.

As 2027 looms, Yusuf’s comments signal growing agitation among party members who believe the PDP’s future lies not just in changing candidates but in restoring its foundational ethos of fairness and regional balance.