PORT HARCOURT/Nigeria: Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has debunked claims that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing such narratives as false and misleading.
In a strongly worded statement issued to the media, Chief Eze clarified that apart from Senator David Mark, who officially resigned from the PDP, all other political heavyweights reported to have exited the party remain card-carrying members. According to him, the former Vice President has only tactically aligned with the emerging coalition movement, while still maintaining his PDP membership.
Eze dismissed comments by Chief Bode George, who questioned Atiku’s loyalty, claiming the former Vice President was attempting to serve two masters—PDP and ADC. He likened Atiku’s current strategy to that of Nyesom Wike’s 2023 playbook, where Wike allegedly worked for the APC while staying in the PDP.
“What Atiku and others did is to adopt Wike’s strategic approach, remain in PDP but collapse the party’s structure into the ADC, which now appears to be the most feasible platform to rescue Nigeria from the disaster President Tinubu and his allies have plunged the country into,” Eze said.
He urged Chief Bode George and other PDP elders to stop playing double games and instead join the ADC openly, to form a united front against the present administration.
Eze described Atiku as the intellectual backbone and political soul of the PDP, asserting that the party would be empty if he were to leave entirely. He alleged that individuals like Wike, acting as covert agents of President Tinubu, have been planted in the PDP to destroy it from within and pave the way for Tinubu’s 2027 ambition.
“The new coalition movement has already intercepted and neutralized that sabotage,” Eze said. “Atiku and other PDP elders have not left the party, but they have wisely collapsed its structure into a stronger, alternative platform to confront the evil that the Tinubu-led government represents.”
Eze praised the strategic wisdom behind the move and hailed Atiku’s leadership in navigating the PDP’s internal crisis. He said this decision has shamed political saboteurs within the PDP who hoped to frustrate the party’s chances in 2027.
In a sharp swipe at former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, Eze applauded Atiku for refusing to pick him as his running mate in the 2023 election. He warned that, given Wike’s alleged reputation for land grabbing, his vice presidency would have turned the Aso Rock Villa into an extension of his private empire.
Eze also expressed deep regret over recommending Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, former Delta State Governor, as Atiku’s running mate in the 2023 polls, describing it as a political blunder. He issued a public apology to Atiku, stating that Okowa had “turned himself into something unworthy of the national leadership expectations.”
The APC chieftain concluded by calling on all genuine patriots within the PDP to embrace the coalition movement led by Atiku, as a credible path to rescue Nigeria from what he described as the “looming collapse under Tinubu’s administration.”
