PDP has problems but leaving isn't the solution - Saraki blasts defectors

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has berated those defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), arguing that leaving isn't the solution to the problem bedeviling the party.

The PDP continues to experience a massive purge as prominent members find comfort in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress (ADC).

On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, four senators from the opposition party defected and joined the APC. This added to the defection of Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, the PDP’s 2023 Vice Presidential candidate Ifeanyi Okowa, along with many others, to the ruling party.

Notable PDP figures who have switched allegiance to the ADC include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President David Mark, and former presidential aspirant Dele Momodu.

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Saraki, who spoke at the Consultative Conference of PDP Founding Fathers and Stakeholders, held Wednesday at the NAF Conference Hall in Abuja, warned that political solutions must be based on strategy, not emotion.

The former Kwara State Governor noted that the gathering of party leaders is a clear indication that the PDP cannot be written off.

“I stand here as someone who has experienced being in this party and not being in this party. I stand here as somebody who left this party with anger. Anger does not solve problems in leadership," he said.

“A lot of people are leaving the party now, and leaving with anger. We must not leave if we have to leave based on ideology, based on plans, based on a vision for Nigeria, not on anger.

“Yes, we have problems. But the other parties (APC and ADC) that we’re talking about also have problems. The other parties, especially the ruling party today, have already spent almost 12 years in government. Is their record any better than PDP’s? Of course not. So what are they offering Nigerians?”

Saraki firmly declared that the PDP state chapters remain united, adding that the party structures at all levels are standing by for guidance from the national leadership.

“For many who had already buried this party before now, your presence here speaks volumes — that nobody is going to bury this party.

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“I say that because if we look at our country today, PDP provides the best platform to develop Nigeria, to unite Nigeria, to make Nigeria prosperous. Nobody can challenge that — because we have done it. For 16 years, we have done it. We have done it. We have done it.

“We took the country to the largest economy in Africa. Today, it is just the fourth largest. We had double-digit GDP growth, it had never been achieved. We had security.

“And we had unity, most importantly. The country was united, it wasn’t about the North, neither was it about South. It was about one Nigeria. This was only done under this great party.”