A former presidential candidate and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has expressed support for the potential interest of President Goodluck Jonathan, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and former Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, in the party’s presidential primary race.
Speaking via a statement on Thursday by his media aide, Hassan Mahmoud, the PDP chieftain declared that a robust and competitive primary would not divide the party.
He insisted that such a development would rekindle the party’s founding ideals of inclusiveness and democratic contest.
“The more, the merrier, robust and competitive primary will not divide the PDP, rather, it will reassert its credentials as the true party of democracy in Nigeria,” Hashim said,
He recalled the party’s founding vision in 1998, stressing that the PDP was not created as an exclusive political club but a “national platform and a big umbrella” accommodating all shades of opinion, ideology, and aspiration.
Hashim said, “From the beginning, the PDP was designed to be a home for all. I remember vividly, as secretary of the publicity subcommittee, chaired by the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, how a journalist first proposed the umbrella symbol which became iconic to the party.”
He paid glowing tribute to political heavyweights who shaped the PDP’s early trajectory, including the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Solomon Lar, Abubakar Rimi, Adamu Ciroma, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Chief Melford Okilo, Jubril Aminu, and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, among others.
“We had giants of Nigerian politics under one roof. Many of them had what it took to lead Nigeria, yet some stepped down and others went through a credible, competitive process, such as the Jos convention of 1999 that eventually produced Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the party’s candidate,” he added.
According to him, the PDP’s formative strength came not from “backdoor consensus or gatekeeping politics,” but from its firm commitment to internal democracy and open contest.
“Those who feared competition quietly exited the founding process. But we stayed the course, and Nigeria benefited from it,” he stated.
“If Jonathan, Atiku, Obi and others wish to contest, they should be welcomed. Let the best ideas and visions emerge through fair competition. That is how to build a party of the future,” he declared.
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