A former Secretary of the Kebbi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abubakar Bawa Kalgo, has alleged that the party has been “sold out” to the ruling All Progressives Congress, declaring that members of the state executive committee are set to resign en masse.
Kalgo, who formally announced his resignation on Monday, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, citing what he described as a betrayal of the PDP’s opposition role.
“I can assure you that after the convention, the state executive committee unanimously agreed to leave the party because we discovered that the party had already been sold,” he said.
Providing insight into the internal crisis, Kalgo explained that the Kebbi PDP executives initially boycotted a factional convention that produced Kabiru Tanimu Turaki due to a court subsisting order restraining the exercise.
However, he noted that they later participated in another convention associated with Nyesom Wike, believing it was legally valid.
“We stayed away from the earlier convention because there was a court order. But when the one led by Wike came up, there was no legal restriction, so we participated in good faith,” Kalgo explained.
He said their confidence in the process was short-lived following Wike’s public endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We were shocked when Wike openly endorsed President Tinubu. Initially, we thought it was his personal position, but we later discovered that many of those elected at the convention shared the same alignment,” he added.
“The opposition party can not support the ruling party,’ Kalgo stressed, adding that the development was unacceptable for a party that is expected to provide credible opposition to the ruling government.
“As members of an opposition party, we can not be working for or aligning with the ruling party. That defeats the whole essence of democracy,” he insisted.
Kalgo further revealed that the decision to quit the PDP was not personal but a collective resolution of the entire state leadership.
“All the party executives, from the chairman downward, are resigning. We have agreed to move together,” he stated.
Continuing, while further highlighting the background to the recent development, the Kebbi ex-PDP scribe lamposted that the deepening PDP crisis underscores the deepening internal crisis within the PDP, Nigeria’s main opposition party, which has been grappling with leadership disputes, factional conventions, and high-profile defections across several states.
“In Kebbi, the crisis has been further compounded by disagreements over the legitimacy of party structures and growing concerns about alleged alliances with the ruling APC,” he stated.
Kalgo, who also lamented that the situation represents a sharp departure from the party’s founding ideals, highlighted, “This is a party we built over decades. It is painful to see what it has become today.”
He maintained that the outgoing executives were already considering alternative political platforms.
“We will look for a formidable platform through which we can continue to oppose the APC-led administration,” Kalgo insisted.