PDP alleges intimidation behind defections to APC as Northern group backs Goodluck Jonathan’s return as 2027 presidential candidate.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of employing undemocratic means, including blackmail and dirty tricks to force its members, particularly serving governors to joining the ruling party.

The PDP also said the President Bola Tinubu-led APC government was determined to decimate the opposition as part of its plan to foist a one-party state on the country.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, who stated these while reacting to claims by a former aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, that two PDP governors would in the next few days defect to the APC.

He stressed that most of the defections were not voluntary, but based on coercion, harassment, inducement, and intimidation.

Ahmad had in a post on X on October 7, said the Governor of Taraba State and another governor from the North West would in a matter of days, formally defect to the APC.

But the spokesperson of the PDP, insisted that such forced defections would not last, adding that the PDP was bigger than individual members, saying as some people were leaving, others were also joining the party.

“The party is not about individuals but all the people. We have more and more diverse people working for the PDP today. More and more people are returning to the PDP because it’s getting itself together.

“The defections you see today are instigated by inducement, harassment, coercion, intimidation, and I can assure that it won’t last,” he said.

Meanwhile, a PDP Northern Support Group has reaffirmed its full backing for the party’s Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Iliya Umar Damagum, and declared unwavering support for the return of former President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s presidential candidate.

This position was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the group’s 8th Northern Support Group Meeting held in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, between Wednesday, 8th and Thursday, 9th October 2025.

The meeting, which brought together representatives and party leaders from all northern states, was convened to strengthen and reposition the PDP for victory in 2027.

According to the communiqué, jointly signed by Hon. Yusuf Abubakar, Northern Coordinator, and Hon. Adamu Ahmed Narayi, North-West Zonal Secretary, the group expressed confidence in Ambassador Damagum’s leadership and lauded his reconciliation efforts aimed at restoring unity, discipline, and cohesion within the party.

The group maintained that the PDP remained a viable platform capable of reclaiming power at both the national and state levels currently held by the All Progressives Congress (APC), provided members demonstrate unity and genuine commitment to party’s ideals.

Reiterating its call for Jonathan’s candidacy, the group described the former president as “a symbol of peace, unity, and progress,” urging stakeholders to begin nationwide mobilization and strategic engagements to ensure his emergence as the PDP flagbearer in 2027.

“There is no going back on Goodluck Jonathan as the candidate to redeem the party’s image in 2027. He remains one of Nigeria’s most patriotic leaders, who sacrificed personal ambition for national peace by peacefully handing over power after the 2015 elections,” the communiqué stated. (AriseNews TV)