PDP made Kwankwaso, will soon reach out to him –National chair

Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says it is planning to reach out to former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to persuade him to return to the party that “nurtured his political career and brought him to where he is today.” The PDP acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagun, […]

Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says it is planning to reach out to former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to persuade him to return to the party that “nurtured his political career and brought him to where he is today.”

The PDP acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagun, revealed this in an interview with the BBC while responding to Kwankwaso’s recent statement that the PDP is “dead” and cannot achieve any significant success in the future.

He emphasised that the PDP was ready to welcome back all former members who left the party, including Senator Kwankwaso.

“People are entitled to their opinions, but I want to remind him of the past. When they left the PDP in 2015, if the party didn’t die back then, during a time they thought they had weakened it, I don’t see why anyone would claim it is dead now.

• Oyebanji, Sule sign 2025 budgets
• NIGERIA DAILY: How The Local Government Politics Of 2024 Will Affect Governance

“Let’s not forget that the PDP remains the only party capable of winning elections if you exclude the ruling APC,” Damagun said.

He also noted that Kwankwaso’s statement was unjust to himself, because despite his criticisms, Kwankwaso was able to win some political victories using the PDP platform in the past.

The acting chairman further boasted that the PDP, even after 26 years, remained strong under the same name and has governors and senators across all regions of Nigeria. He argued that even if four other parties were to merge, they still would not match the PDP’s strength.

Addressing Kwankwaso’s claims that he was marginalised in the PDP, making him to dismiss any plans to work with the party in the 2027 elections, Damagun admitted that some of Kwankwaso’s grievances were valid.

He explained that during Kwankwaso’s initial efforts to leave the PDP, Damagun himself, then the party’s deputy national chairman for the North, tried his best to reconcile the issues but was unsuccessful.

“That said, there is no party better than the PDP for Kwankwaso. The party nurtured his political career and brought him to where he is today. We still hope he will return to work with us to rebuild our party and confront this oppressive government,” Damagun added.

The PDP chairman stated that, God willing, the party will soon reach out to Kwankwaso despite knowing he was angry, adding that his aspirations might not be achievable in his current party.

“The PDP has always been a party that welcomes back any of its members who left in anger. Whenever they return, we give them opportunities just like everyone else,” Damagun concluded.