Atiku's exit 'good riddance to bad rubbish'

The Peoples Democratic Party has declared that ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s irresponsibility was a major role in the party’s loss in the 2023 presidential election and that his withdrawal from the party is not a problem.

In an exclusive interview with THE PUNCH on Thursday, PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary Ibrahim Abdullahi said Atiku’s exit was “good riddance to bad rubbish”.

On Wednesday, Atiku formally resigned from the PDP, sparking widespread speculation that he may run for president as part of the African Democratic Congress-led alliance.

In a letter dated July 14, 2025, issued to the Chairman of his Jada 1 Ward in Adamawa State, Atiku announced his resignation from the party he co-founded in 1998.

He previously ran for president under the PDP in 2019 and 2023 but lost to late President Muhammadu Buhari and current President Bola Tinubu, both from the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku’s resignation letter read in part, “I am writing to formally resign my membership from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with immediate effect.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for the opportunities I have been given by the party. Serving two full terms as vice president of Nigeria and being a presidential candidate twice has been one of the most significant chapters of my life. As a founding father of this esteemed party, it is indeed heartbreaking for me to make this decision.

“However, I find it necessary to part ways due to the current trajectory the party has taken, which I believe diverges from the foundational principles we stood for. It is with a heavy heart that I resign, recognising the irreconcilable differences that have emerged.

“I wish the party and its leadership all the best in the future. Thank you once again for the opportunities and support.”

Abdullahi claimed that the PDP lost the 2023 elections because Atiku, the party’s presidential nominee, failed to rally the necessary support and instead allowed important party leaders to defect or get disengaged.

He stated, “Well, I’m happy that you’re able to remind us how many times he has left the party and had to come back.

“But by my calculation, it’s not even the third time. This is the fourth time. Because he left it in 2006 when he was a sitting vice president against Olusegun Obasanjo and tried to run for the presidency in AC. In 2011, he tried to contest for the presidency against Goodluck Jonathan, and following the loss of the ticket, I recall he was able to get five states against Goodluck Jonathan that got to 29.

“If you recall, that will count as a second time. The third time was in 2014, when, alongside four other governors, they bolted out of the PDP and only for all of them to come back. And now in 2025, he has left again.”

Abdullahi, although wishing Atiku well, stated that the PDP had no need to be concerned about his departure, underlining that the party is not based on a single individual.

PDP Deputy Publicity Secretary continued, “He could have mobilised the party faithful and galvanised the desired support from all quarters to win that 2023 election for PDP and for Nigeria.

“But we saw the exit of Peter Obi. We saw the exit of Kwankwaso. We saw the exit of five governors led by Nyesom Wike from his presidential campaign. And if all of that did not count as negligence on the part of the presidential flag bearer, I don’t know what other adjective you will use to describe the act.

“And in 2027, he is also nursing presidential ambitions still within the party, PDP. But he is clearly sure that we are not going to let that go that way until we satisfy all members of the process and the procedures of delivering a presidential candidate.

“So he knows that it will be a very Herculean task going forward to still have our party’s ticket on three consecutive terms since he is not the only person in the PDP. So it is following this realisation that he is now thinking of a coalition. A coalition that is already dead on arrival on account of the ambition of the members therein.

“So we are wishing them well, but as for leaving the PDP, good riddance to bad rubbish. PDP is not losing any sleep, and there is not a single member of this PDP who would think he is indispensable. We had a time when even a sitting president tore his membership card of the PDP, but no sooner did we see him coming back into the PDP. So, PDP is not built around individuals. It is an institution.

“Anyone who feels they want to leave, it is a safe journey. But we want to assure Nigerians that if you leave, you will come back.

“We are here. It has been 27 years today and counting, and that is the longest political party in the history of Nigeria since the beginning of democracy and since the commencement of this Fourth Republic. So there is nothing to lose sleep over.”