Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed insinuations that President Bola Tinubu is responsible for the internal crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, insisting that Governor Seyi Makinde and some leaders of the opposition party should be blamed for its woes.
The party described those accusing the President of meddling in the PDP’s affairs as “uninformed minds,” adding that the umbrella party was paying for what it termed years of “naivety, pride and insincerity.”
The PDP, once dominant in Nigeria’s political landscape, has in recent months continued to lose members — including governors and federal and state lawmakers — to rival political parties, especially the APC.
In a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday in Ibadan, the Oyo APC Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, said the PDP had not only failed Nigerians during its 16 years in power but had also failed to live up to expectations as the country’s main opposition platform.
“As democrats, we are worried about the turn of events in the PDP since the umbrella party was dislodged from power at the centre in 2015. It became evident that the only thing that united members of the party was the national cake,” the statement read.
“Things fell apart immediately after the 2015 presidential election was decided in favour of the then newly registered APC, and up till now, the centre cannot hold as the former dominant party faces imminent collapse and extinction.”
Sadare added that “political pundits and discerning minds” would attribute the PDP’s present travails to what he called a law of retribution, recalling that a former leader of the party once boasted that it would rule for 50 years.
“Shortly after, power and money which kept them going disappeared and minor crises were allowed to fester until the 2023 general elections when the worst happened,” he added.
The Oyo APC further accused PDP leaders of abandoning internal problem-solving mechanisms and allowing Makinde to take control of the party’s affairs, despite what it called his lack of capacity and experience required to lead a national political organisation.
“Gov. Makinde emerged as the final nemesis that consumed the PDP. He is now the only governor belonging to the umbrella party in the entire Southern region, with only three or four left in the North,” the statement said.
The party also recalled what it described as the sacrifices made by Tinubu and other opposition leaders during the “do-or-die politics” of the Obasanjo era, stressing that they could not now be blamed for the PDP’s decline.
“Gov. Makinde cannot deliver the PDP from its current comatose condition. If virtually all his governor colleagues have left the party for him, then questions should be asked about his mission and vision for the PDP,” the statement added.
The APC urged critics to allow President Tinubu to focus on his duties rather than drag him into the PDP’s internal problems.
