PDP may seek alliances if reconciliation fails – Sule Lamido

Former Jigawa State Governor and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sule Lamido, has said the party may be forced to form alliances if efforts to reconcile its members do not succeed.

Lamido spoke on Monday while meeting PDP leaders and stakeholders from Jigawa State at his office in Kano. He said urgent reconciliation is necessary to stop the party from further decline.

JHe explained that he earlier asked party members to remain patient until December 9 while consultations were ongoing about the status of the PDP’s acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum. According to him, the deadline was part of broader efforts to restore unity and stability in the party.

Lamido said he had held discussions with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Senate President Bukola Saraki on ways to involve PDP governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in the reconciliation process. Some of the meetings, he said, took place at Saraki’s residence.

He urged party members to put aside personal interests for the survival of the PDP, saying there was still no political party like it in Nigeria.

Lamido warned that if reconciliation efforts fail, the PDP would have no option but to explore alliances, not coalitions. He said such alliances could significantly change Nigeria’s political landscape.

He also expressed concern over the PDP’s poor performance in Kano State during the last general elections, where the party reportedly received only about 15,000 votes.

The former governor criticised the defection of the party’s former vice-presidential candidate to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing it as a major blow to the PDP.

Lamido further claimed that internal conflicts within the PDP had helped the APC, adding that political developments in the South-West were influenced by tribal considerations in favour of the ruling party.

Earlier, the Jigawa State Chairman of the PDP, Dr Babandi Ibrahim, said the meeting was a continuation of previous efforts to resolve the party’s leadership crisis.

He admitted that the party was facing serious uncertainty and noted that both Ambassador Umar Damagum and Senator Samuel Anyanwu were still listed on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) platform as the recognised leaders of the party.

According to him, the stakeholders’ visit was in response to Lamido’s earlier call for patience while efforts were ongoing to resolve the leadership dispute.