Lere Olayinka’s bombshel; How Atiku’s rebelion against PDP wrecked Party

Lere Olayinka’s bombshel; How Atiku’s rebelion against PDP wrecked Party

Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has openly accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of instigating a rebellion within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which ultimately contributed to the party’s current loss of power.

In an interview on Arise Television, Olayinka argued that Atiku’s actions in 2014 were a key factor in the PDP’s inability to retain control of the nation’s leadership.

He further claimed that Atiku, during his tenure as Vice President, actively worked against the interests of his own party, undermining its unity and stability.

Olayinka’s statements are part of a broader critique of the former presidential candidate’s role in the PDP’s current political challenges.

Olayinka said: “PDP’s issues started in 2003 when Atiku as Vice President of Nigeria frustrated the PDP’s efforts to win Lagos State.

“That was how the problem started. Because we were able to march on in government, people did not notice. The problem went on to the extent that a sitting president, Obasanjo literally had to beg his running mate to be able to pick his second term ticket.

“The problem started, it got to 2007 and Atiku as Vice President of Nigeria under a PDP government formed Action Congress, AC, and contested election as a candidate of AC while still being the Vice President holding PDP’s mandate.

“It went on like that and in 2014, because somebody was so desperate to contest an election and insisted that Jonathan will not have a second term, he led a rebellion and I’m talking about Atiku again, he led a rebellion that took PDP out of power in 2015. If Atiku did not lead that rebellion of 2014, PDP would still be in power now.

“So how did PDP’s problem start? In 2015, Atiku campaigned for APC to take PDP out of power; some people including Wike took the battle of rebuilding the party on their head, they spent their money, time, and took risk at the expense of losing their seat as governor. Wike, Fayose and where was Atiku, he was in Dubai.

“He came back in 2018 and returned to PDP, picked the party ticket and contested but lost the election. After losing an election, what do you do as the leader of the party? You stay back in the country to galvanize support, lead opposition but what did Atiku do? He went to Dubai again and was there for over two years.

“It was after two years that he came back to start writing letter of appreciation to those who worked with him.”