“Tajudeen Yusuf Blames Atiku for PDP’s 2023 Loss, Warns Party Against Repeating Mistakes Ahead of 2027”
Tajudeen Yusuf, a former member of the House of Representatives and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has singled out Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the party’s loss in the 2023 presidential election. In a candid statement on the ongoing crisis within the PDP, Yusuf argued that the party might repeat the same mistakes made in 2023 if it doesn’t address its internal divisions.
Speaking in the wake of violent disruptions at the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting in Abuja on January 29, 2025, Yusuf pointed to the party’s presidential candidate in the last election, Atiku Abubakar, as being too arrogant and overly confident. He suggested that this attitude led to the party’s defeat.
“We lost the last election because our flagbearer was too cocky and so sure he was the next president,” Yusuf stated. “People forget that being a candidate alone does not make you president.”
The former lawmaker emphasized that the ongoing crisis in the PDP is rooted in the power struggle among party members positioning themselves for the 2027 general elections. He warned that these ambitious moves are preventing the party from effectively playing its role as a strong opposition party.
“The PDP is not playing opposition as it should because the PDP finds itself in the quagmire of over-ambitious men who believe they must always run for elections,” Yusuf said. “A political party should be robust and not be about you running for election.”
Yusuf also expressed concern that the violence that disrupted the BoT meeting was indicative of the intense power struggles within the party. He noted that these struggles are focused on securing control and positioning for the upcoming presidential primaries.
Acknowledging the party’s failure to resolve internal conflicts, Yusuf admitted that the PDP’s mechanisms for crisis resolution had broken down. The violent scenes witnessed during the BoT meeting, he concluded, were a direct reflection of the PDP’s leadership failure.
