On Monday, April 14, the Governors’ Forum of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made it clear that they’re not joining the new opposition alliance being pushed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The meeting, which took place in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, was led by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State. After the discussions, the governors said they had no plans to team up with any coalition ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku had recently announced a new alliance of opposition leaders, which is said to include big names like Peter Obi (former Labour Party presidential candidate) and Nasir El-Rufai (former Kaduna State governor), who just left the All Progressives Congress (APC) to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Atiku said the goal of the coalition is simple: to remove President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
But the PDP governors aren’t interested.
The Forum also made a key decision about its leadership, backing Setonji Koshoedo, the current Deputy National Secretary, to serve as Acting National Secretary of the party. This move adds to the ongoing internal tension within the PDP about who should officially hold that role.
Meanwhile, former SDP presidential candidate Adewale Adebayo said Atiku and Obi are in talks to fully join the SDP. He believes that if they, along with other powerful politicians, commit to the SDP’s style of politics, they could have a real chance of defeating President Tinubu and the APC in the next election.
“If Atiku, Obi and other prominent politicians willing to join SDP can stick to the party’s culture, they would defeat and retire Tinubu and the APC,” Adebayo said.
Also jumping into the conversation, Buba Galadima, a top figure in the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), claimed that El-Rufai might be Atiku’s ‘placeholder’ in the SDP, in case the PDP doesn’t give Atiku its 2027 presidential ticket.
For now, though, the PDP governors are sticking to their own path—and they’re not ready to join any political tag team just yet.
