‘PDP NOT IN MERGER TALKS’

The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has said that it is not in merger talks with any political party ahead of the 2027 elections.

It will be recalled that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, had a private meeting in Abuja on May 13, 2024.

The meeting was the first between the two politicians since the end of the general election last year.

Also, Obi had met separately with Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa, and Bukola Saraki, ex-senate president, sparking rumours of a potential merger before the 2027 elections.

Following these meetings, both Atiku and Obi hinted in separate interviews at the possibility of a merger.

But on June 3, Umar Damagum, acting national chairman of the PDP, said the party had not commenced merger talks with any group.

In a statement on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, the national publicity secretary of the PDP, reiterated that the opposition party is not in any merger or amalgamation talks with any political party.

“The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, after its 587th meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, restates for the umpteenth time that the PDP is not engaged in any merger, fusion, or amalgamation talks with any other political party or interest,” the statement reads.

“While the PDP, as a truly people’s party, is open and welcoming to all Nigerians, including our former members who left for other parties, we state that our party remains strong and formidable, capable of winning elections in a free, fair, and transparent electoral process in our country.

“The NWC acknowledges the influx of millions of Nigerians into our party in the ongoing party membership drive in all the electoral wards across the country, which further confirms that the PDP remains the party of choice for the majority of Nigerians.

“The public, teeming members of our great party, democratic institutions, and of course the international community should therefore disregard any report suggesting any form of merger between the PDP and any other political party as such is not in the contemplation of our great party.”