Lamido Accuses PDP Governors of Blocking His National Chairmanship Bid

Former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, has alleged that governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are deliberately preventing him from contesting for the national chairmanship of the party.

Lamido made the claim during an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, where he said the governors refused to release a nomination form to him despite a court order directing the party to allow him to participate in the contest.

He disclosed that the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, personally contacted him and urged him to withdraw from the race, insisting that the governors feared he would be too independent if elected.

According to Lamido, Bala told him: “You are stronger than us. If you become chairman, we won’t be able to influence you.”

Lamido said he reminded the governor that the party was built on shared principles and not designed to be controlled by a single interest group.

He added that PDP existed before many of its current power players joined its ranks.

Despite securing a court ruling compelling the party to allow him into the chairmanship race, Lamido lamented that the governors ignored the judgment and instead proceeded to file an appeal.

He also criticized the outcome of the party’s recent national convention, which produced Tanimu Turaki as chairman, describing the entire process as unacceptable and lacking legitimacy.

Lamido called on senior statesmen, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to intervene and help restore the founding ideals of the PDP, arguing that the party must return to its core values if it hopes to contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s democracy and national development.