The former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors deliberately shut the door against his ambition to lead the party at the national level.
He contended that the move to frustrate his bid reflected a deeper attempt to centralise influence within a small circle of governors who, in his view, feared losing control if he emerged as chairman.
The former governor revealed this in an interview with BBC Hausa, explaining that PDP governors even refused to sell him a nomination form, despite a court order that allowed him to contest.
Lamido claimed that the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, personally asked him to withdraw from the contest, arguing that he would be “too independent” to manage.
“Bala called and said, ‘My elder brother, you are stronger than us. If we make you chairman, we can’t influence you.’ I told him, ‘When the PDP was formed, you were not there. A party with history should not be controlled by one person,’” he said.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the leadership that emerged from the recent convention, during which Tanimu Turaki was announced as national chairman, dismissing the process entirely.
Lamido appealed to elder statesmen, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to intervene and reposition the PDP, arguing that the party must return to its foundational ideals if it hopes to contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s democratic development.
