The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again tackled the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing it of using a combination of state power, intimidation and money to influence the outcome of Saturday’s by-elections in several states.
But the “bad news for the APC”, according to the opposition party, is that the use of money “won’t buy votes” in 2027 because Nigerians would have been well convinced that the APC is out to perpetuate their sufferings.
Speaking with reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, the National Publicity Secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba, said the APC had not only weaponised hunger but was also unable to address insecurity and economic hardship.
Referencing the cases of Kaduna and Taraba States, the party alleged that voters were not only intimidated but also arrested a night before the elections.
He said what the APC simply did was to use the by-elections as a test for what it planned to unleash on the opposition in 2027.
However, Ologunagba noted that in 2027, what would be on the ballot for the APC would be hunger and insecurity.He stated, “We don’t call that (by-elections) an election. And we’ve heard about the arrogance of the APC.
What they have done with those elections was a test for 2027. But I have bad news for APC.
What happened in those by-elections, that they called election, will not happen in 2027. Why? The reason is that Nigerian people are wiser.
“They are hurting. What will be on the ballot in 2027 will be the hunger, will be the uncertainty, will be the insecurity that no money can purchase.
“The self-adulation and praise-singing will not save them in 2027. They have brought pain to Nigerians in the last 12 years.
“Nigerians will make comparisons with the golden years of PDP. We can go and fact-check that.”
On the 2025 elective national convention of the party fixed for Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Ologunagba said the party was fully ready and in top gear for the exercise.
He recalled that, flowing from the party’s 101st National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, the PDP had since inaugurated a zoning committee to come up with the distribution of key positions across the geopolitical zones of the country.
The NPS stated that the committee, which is chaired by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Diri Douye, would submit its report for consideration by the 102nd NEC meeting of the PDP planned for next week.
“I can say to you the party is ready for Ibadan.
Yes, indeed, we are.
This will show the capacity of PDP to stand up and do the right thing. PDP is ready for the convention as scheduled by NEC,” he added.
Ologunagba downplayed a rumoured bid by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to organise a parallel convention in Abuja, insisting that the party had followed due process in planning for the Ibadan convention.
“There is a process, and we’re a party of process indeed. And what we do is that we follow the constitution of our party.
Interestingly, the process has started; we have been in sync with our regulator, INEC. INEC has been attending all the meetings.
“They have witnesses to all the things we’re doing. That might be a media hype (parallel); people testing the waters. In fact, it does not exist.
“Can we just disregard this and focus on what we are doing as a party? Our train has moved on and we won’t indulge in what I may call hallucinations,” he said.
Wike had given conditions to the PDP, which he said must be met before the Ibadan convention would take place, including asking the party to recognise the leadership produced by the South-South Zonal Congress held in Calabar.
He insisted that Chief Dan Orbih, who emerged from the congress as the National Vice-Chairman, South-South, must be recognised.
But the party disagreed with him, saying that the lifespan of the leadership produced by the congress had already lapsed, following which it named the zonal caretaker committee chaired by Chief Emmanuel Obi to oversee the affairs of the zone until another congress would be conducted.