Segun Sowunmi, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has called on the party to make serious efforts to bring Peter Obi back before the 2027 general elections.
He made this suggestion during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Friday.
Peter Obi left the PDP in May 2022 and joined the Labour Party. Reports said he left because of bribery and vote buying during the PDP presidential primary.
Obi also felt that some members within the PDP were working against him, which made him leave.
Now, after three years, Sowunmi believes it is the right time for the PDP to bring Obi back into the party.
He said Obi, who is from the South-East and used to be in the PDP, got over 6.2 million votes during the 2023 presidential election. He mentioned that since the PDP lost both the election and the court case, the party should now focus on reconnecting with Obi, whose support base is still very strong.
Since the 2023 elections, the PDP has been dealing with a lot of internal problems, especially after their candidate, Atiku Abubakar, lost to President Bola Tinubu.
After Iyorchia Ayu was removed as chairman, Umar Damagum, who was the Deputy National Chairman (North), took over in an acting role. But some members from the North Central region now want a permanent chairman, which is causing more division in the party.
Also, there is a legal battle over who should be the National Secretary between Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye, which is delaying decisions about replacing Damagum.
Sowunmi said many of the problems and the recent defections to the ruling APC were caused by the PDP’s own mistakes. He believes these issues should have been addressed long ago.
He also said while it’s easy to blame others, the PDP must accept responsibility for its own lack of creativity and poor planning.
Sowunmi warned that people often underestimate President Tinubu because of how he looks, but his thinking and strategy are very strong. He said underestimating Tinubu is a mistake.
He concluded by criticizing some members of his party who act like defeating Tinubu would be easy. According to him, they don’t realize how politically smart Tinubu really is.
