Yusuf accused the party’s governors of deliberately allowing the situation to persist in order to justify their defection to other political platforms.
A former member of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Yusuf has warned Atiku Abubakar to forget Peoples Democratic Party presidential ticket in 2027.
This is as he attributed the downfall of the party to failure of some party leaders to prioritise the unity of the party over their personal political ambitions.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar contested as the PDP’s presidential candidate in the last two election cycles, but Yusuf believes it is time for him to step aside and allow the party to return to its original zoning formula, which he says would promote peace within the party.
“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 presidential election, we would have been seen as going back to our original modus operandi where party positions are zoned,” Yusuf said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday.
“Look at the South-South and the South-East, which have been reasonably the bedrock of the PDP. You just come and pick a ticket, people will start losing hope because the desire of everybody is to get to the peak of their career.
“If they now realise that because of the number that comes from one particular section in a primary election, they cannot get the ticket, they get frustrated,” he said.
The former ruling party has been grappling with internal crises since the 2023 general election, with several top members, including governors and National Assembly members, defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The latest to defect are the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori; his deputy, Monday Onyeme; his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa; and other top PDP members in the state, who defected to the APC on Wednesday.
Yusuf, who represented the Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, described the crisis in the PDP as self-inflicted.
He accused the party’s governors of deliberately allowing the situation to persist in order to justify their defection to other political platforms.