”I don’t think that will make any dent on the PDP as a party”, Makinde insists.
AKURE, NIGERIA – The iNews Times reports that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared that the recent defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar poses no threat to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting the party remains a formidable political institution despite Atiku’s departure.
Governor Makinde, speaking in Akure on Wednesday during a colloquium marking the 10th coronation anniversary of the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, said defections are a normal feature of political life and would not derail the PDP.
“I don’t think that will make any dent on the PDP as a party. The PDP is an institution, and you have freedom of entrance and exit,” Makinde said.
Makinde also dismissed concerns over the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which Atiku and other opposition figures unveiled on July 1 as a coalition platform for the 2027 elections, describing it as “just another political party seeking to contest elections like the PDP.”
Atiku, who announced his resignation from the PDP on Sunday, said in a letter addressed to his ward chairman in Adamawa State that his decision was borne out of irreconcilable differences with the party’s leadership.
“As a founding father of this esteemed party, it is indeed heartbreaking for me to make this decision. However, I find it necessary to part ways due to the current trajectory the party has taken, which I believe diverges from the foundational principles we stood for,” the former vice president wrote.
Atiku’s history of shifting political loyalties is well known. First elected vice president on the PDP platform in 1999, he fell out with then-President Olusegun Obasanjo and defected ahead of the 2007 elections to the Action Congress (AC), under which he contested and lost the presidential race.
He returned to the PDP before the 2011 polls but failed to clinch the presidential ticket. In 2014, he joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), only to return again to the PDP in 2017, emerging as its presidential candidate for both the 2019 and 2023 elections – both unsuccessful bids.
Beyond politics, the governor used his speech in Akure to call for greater recognition of Nigeria’s traditional institutions in governance and nation-building, describing them as “enduring pillars of identity, legitimacy, and communal cohesion.”
“Long before Nigeria’s formal administrative systems, traditional rulers dispensed justice, upheld values, coordinated local security, and kept communities united,” Makinde said. “Today, they remain custodians of grassroots trust. Nation-building that ignores them does so at its peril.”
Makinde said his administration had deliberately integrated traditional institutions into the governance framework in Oyo State, a move he credited with fostering peace and community development.
In his remarks, Oba Aladelusi urged the federal government to formally strengthen the role of traditional institutions in the constitution, emphasizing their relevance in sustaining unity and development.
The monarch also commended the Ondo State government and the people of Akure for their support to the Deji’s palace, noting that the ancient town remains united under its traditional leadership.
