2027: PDP will collapse if Atiku wins Presidential ticket — Bode George

A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has issued a stern warning that the party risks total collapse if former Vice President Atiku Abubakar secures its 2027 presidential ticket.

Speaking during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, April 14, George declared, “If he (Atiku) picks it (PDP’s ticket), that is the end of this party. If he picks it by manipulation which was what was done the last time, we will not accept it.”

Atiku, who has run for Nigeria’s presidency six times under different political platforms, recently championed an inter-party alliance aimed at unseating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The coalition, announced on March 20, 2025, featured other political heavyweights including ex-Anambra State governor Peter Obi and former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai.

However, the PDP governors have distanced themselves from Atiku’s alliance. On the same day Bode George made his comments, April 14, the PDP Governors’ Forum rejected the proposed coalition and dismissed any plans for a party merger.

Chief George applauded the governors for standing firm, accusing Atiku of failing to demonstrate true leadership within the PDP. He argued that the former Vice President had remained absent from resolving key internal conflicts affecting the party.

“No, if he is the leader of the party, he would have waded into it (the crisis),” George stated. “The fact that he was the presidential candidate of the party at the last election doesn’t mean he is a bona fide, fixated leader of the party.”

When asked about the possibility of Atiku flying the PDP flag in 2027, George was unequivocal: “He cannot be. There was eight years in the north, there should be eight years in the south. That is the dictate, that is the doctrine of the PDP.”

Quoting the party’s constitution, George referenced Section 7, Sub-section 3C, which supports the principle of rotating the presidency between the North and the South. He emphasized that since the presidency was held in the North for eight years, it is now the turn of the South.

“Is Atiku from the South-West, South-South or South-East?” George questioned pointedly.

While expressing his opposition to President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, Bode George reiterated his commitment to seeing a southern candidate emerge from the PDP to contest and hopefully win the presidency.

The internal rift signals deepening cracks within the PDP as the party prepares for the next general election cycle.