The Adamawa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Wednesday evening stated that Atiku’s exit would not significantly affect the party. Speaking earlier in the day on Atiku’s departure, the state chapter of PDP acknowledged that although the resignation came as a shock, the party would withstand it gallantly.
The Adamawa State PDP chairman, Ahmed Tijani Shehu, emphasised that while Atiku’s stature makes him a formidable figure wherever he goes, PDP remains too robust a political structure for the departure of any individual to dismantle it.
“The former Vice President is a great asset for sure, but our party itself is a formidable one with remarkable presence all across the country, so we remain one big winning force,” Shehu said.
Reacting to speculation that members of the party in Atiku’s ward had all followed him, Shehu said: “The PDP in Jada remains as it has long been, to the best of our knowledge. If the leaders and members of the PDP in that ward had gone out of the party with Atiku, they would have informed the party leadership at the state headquarters in Yola.”
Atiku’s resignation from PDP became public knowledge on Wednesday afternoon, when his letter to that effect was made public.
Commenting on Atiku’s resignation, a prominent loyalist said Atiku had no choice but to leave PDP, which he described as a ‘dead’ party.
The loyalist, Umar Bello Jada, who is also from Atiku’s birthplace of Jada, argued that PDP had suffered a fatal blow at the hands of its own leaders, and Atiku simply could not remain within it.
Umar Jada, popularly known as Calculate, said Atiku had to seek an alternative political platform.
“What has happened is foretold, as the PDP is a dead party, killed by its very leaders who traded the party for what they could get for themselves,” he said.
Jada alleged that PDP in the entire Jada Local Government Area was now defunct, as all its members had followed Atiku. He further claimed that all PDP members in southern Adamawa would defect to the Africa Democratic Congress, ADC, with Atiku in the near future.
