PDP Crisis: We Lost Last Election Because Atiku Was Too Cocky — Ex-Lawmaker

As the crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepens, party member and former House of Representatives member, Tajudeen Yusuf, has blamed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the party’s defeat in the 2023 presidential election.

Yusuf, while commenting on the violence that disrupted the party’s Board of Trustees meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, said the opposition party might repeat its 2023 mistakes if care is not taken.

According to him, the PDP lost the 2023 election because its presidential candidate was too cocky.

He maintained that the lingering crisis in the party is caused by the struggle for structure and power by some party members who are positioning themselves for the 2027 general elections.

“What you have seen ahead of 2027 is that people are struggling for structure, for who controls what, and to become the party’s candidate. They forget the fact that being a candidate alone does not make you president. We lost the last election because I feel our flagbearer was too cocky and so sure he was the next president,” Yusuf said.

The ex-lawmaker further said that the PDP is not playing opposition as it should, adding that the crisis rocking the party is orchestrated by overambitious party members.

“The PDP is not playing opposition as it should because the PDP finds itself in the quagmire of over-ambitious men who believe they must always run for elections. A political party should be robust and not be about you running for election,” Yusuf said.

He stated that the violence that marred the BoT meeting was a manifestation of the struggle for control and power ahead of the next presidential primary.

Yusuf, who represented Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu constituency, admitted that the PDP’s internal mechanism for crisis resolution has failed, adding that the violence witnessed during the BoT meeting was a manifestation of the party’s leadership failure.