The 2023 Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olajide Adediran, also known as Jandor, has shared a deeper look into the party’s recent setbacks, saying that Atiku Abubakar’s win during the presidential primary was not the main cause behind the PDP’s fall in performance.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, Jandor, who has now rejoined the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that internal issues within the PDP were far more responsible for its poor results in the last general elections than Atiku’s candidacy alone.
According to him, while the PDP tried to stick to a democratic system in choosing its flagbearer, the lack of unity among members hurt the party’s chances.
Jandor pointed out that PDP leaders often allow personal interests to get in the way of party loyalty. He noted, “PDP give it to them, they can be very democratic when it come to selection choices which is good… but in PDP is the only party where I see leaders of the party telling followers don’t vote for that microphone because it wasn’t my choice.”
He compared this situation with the APC, where party members are usually expected to follow the leadership’s decision without question. He said the APC operates with a stronger sense of “party supremacy,” meaning once a decision is made, everyone is expected to back it fully, even if it wasn’t their personal preference.
Jandor also added that in the PDP, even after a free and fair primary, some top members were not ready to support the winner. This disloyalty, he said, made it difficult for the party to move forward as a united group. He believes that these actions from inside the party played a big role in the PDP’s losses during the elections.
