The Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Umar Damagum, has declared that the 2027 general elections will not be a battle of political structures, but a referendum on President Bola Tinubu’s leadership and the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians.
Damagum made this assertion on Thursday while presenting the Certificate of Return to Chief Ezenwafor Jude, the party’s flagbearer for the upcoming Anambra State governorship election. In a pointed critique of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Damagum described the coming election as a defining moment for the Nigerian electorate.
“This election in 2027 is not about how many governors you have or how many leaders,” he said. “It’s about Tinubu and Nigerians. The ordinary man is feeling the pain, and the decision is his. It is APC versus Nigerians.”
Damagum urged PDP members to set aside internal differences and rally around a common goal — what he described as rescuing the nation from hardship “inflicted by design, not by coincidence.”
He also addressed the recent high-profile defections in Delta State, where Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor Ifeanyi Okowa, and the entire state cabinet exited the PDP for the APC. Okowa, a former PDP vice-presidential candidate, was a central figure in the party’s recent national campaign.
Damagum expressed deep disappointment at their departure, describing it as a betrayal of a party that had consistently supported the political aspirations of Delta State leaders.
“It’s very sad and unfortunate,” he said. “If there’s any state that should not take this path, it’s Delta. The party has been magnanimous — from the emergence of the current governor to his predecessor.”
He added that while the decision rests with those who left, the pain of the defection will be felt most by those who invested in the state’s political rise within the PDP.
Still, Damagum maintained that the PDP has weathered greater storms in the past and remains strong. “We least expected this, but this is a party that has seen more than that, and it’s still standing,” he said.
