Lere Olayinka, a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), advised Atiku Abubakar, the party’s nominee for president in the most recent general elections, to abandon his dreams of running for office in 2027.
“As it is, Atiku needs to let PDP breathe,” he declared.
Atiku’s conceit and egotism brought the PDP to its current state, according to Olayinka, the party’s candidate for the House of Representatives from Ekiti Central Constituency two in the last elections. In the future, he ought to step down and make room for new party leaders.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling that rejected Atiku’s appeal against President Bola Tinubu’s election, Olayinka said it was amusing that some people were so sentimental that they thought a candidate who won more than 20 states could still be declared elected even if they did not receive 25% of the vote in the Federal Capital Territory.
He said,
“Rather than bringing everyone together to confront the election, they were more interested in dealing with those who told them the truth, suspending and expelling National Assembly candidates of the party and spending millions of Naira on lawyers to defend the suspension.
“They even had names of those they will show pepper when their President-in-waiting assumes office. Now, eyes don clear.”
While telling those already selling the idea of Atiku contesting again in 2027 as PDP candidate to perish the idea, Olayinka said, “Enough of Atiku is coming every four years. PDP does not belong to any single individual.
“Most importantly, politics should not be about one person’s interest all the time. Someone left the PDP in 2007 when he knew he won’t get the presidential ticket. He came back in 2011 to fight for the ticket in a very toxic manner, he lost.
“Just like 2007, when he saw that he won’t get the PDP ticket in 2015, he instigated crisis in the party and left for the APC. The moment it became clear that he won’t get the APC in 2019, he returned to the PDP.
“Truth is, if he had lost the PDP ticket in 2019, he would have probably moved to another party.
“Now that he has gotten what he wanted two times and failed, the party should be allowed to pick the pieces of its political life and move on with Atiku taking the back seat.”