As the internal crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party deepens, former House of Representatives member Tajudeen Yusuf has blamed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the party’s defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
Yusuf, reacting to the violence that disrupted the PDP’s Board of Trustees meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, warned that the opposition party risks repeating its past mistakes if urgent steps are not taken to address internal divisions.
According to the former lawmaker, the PDP lost the 2023 election due to what he described as the overconfidence of its presidential candidate.
“We lost the last election because I feel our flagbearer was too cocky and so sure he was the next president,” Yusuf said.
He argued that the ongoing crisis within the party stems from internal power struggles among members positioning themselves for the 2027 general elections.
“What you have seen ahead of 2027 is that people are struggling for structure, for who controls what, and to become the party’s candidate. They forget the fact that being a candidate alone does not make you president,” he said.
Yusuf also criticised the PDP’s approach to opposition politics, stating that the party is failing to hold the ruling government accountable due to the ambitions of certain members.
“The PDP is not playing opposition as it should because the PDP finds itself in the quagmire of over-ambitious men who believe they must always run for elections. A political party should be robust and not be about you running for election,” he said.
He linked the violence at the BoT meeting to the fierce contest for control and influence within the party ahead of the next presidential primary.
Yusuf, who represented the Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu constituency, admitted that the PDP’s internal crisis resolution mechanisms have failed, stressing that the disruptions at the BoT meeting were a clear indication of leadership failure within the party.
