- Damagum when asked if he would want Obi back in the PDP, the party chair said: “Not only him. Every other person that has been in this party, we want them back.”
- He said this in an interview aired on May 30.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it is not in merger talks with any political party ahead of the 2027 election.
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.
The meeting was the first between the two politicians since the end of the general elections last year.
Also, Obi had met separately with Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa and Bukola Saraki, former Senate President, sparking rumors of a potential merger before the 2027 general elections.
Following these meetings, both Atiku and Obi hinted in separate interviews at the possibility of a merger.
On June 3, Umar Damagum, acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the party has not commenced merger talks with other platforms.
He said this in an interview aired on May 30.
Damagum when asked if he would want Obi back in the PDP, the party chair said: “Not only him. Every other person that has been in this party, we want them back.”
Obi left the PDP for the LP in June 2022.
Reacting in a statement by Debo Ologunagba, its spokesperson, on Wednesday, the PDP national working committee reiterated that the party is not in any merger or amalgamation talks with any other political party.
The party expressed its willingness to welcome back members who had previously left for other political parties.
“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, democracy knstitutions, 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.”
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