A founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prof. Jerry Gana, has claimed that Peter Obi would defeat any contender in Nigeria’s Northern states if he contests on the PDP platform.
He recently revealed that he arrived at that conclusion after doing proper research.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time, Jerry Gana told Nigerians not to forget that the PDP’s grassroots strength is still a force to reckon with in Nigerian politics.
According to him, the People’s Democratic Party played a vital role in restoring the country’s democratic governance over the years, so Peter Obi will have a lot to gain by returning.
He stated that citizens should remember that the PDP won various local government, governorship and presidential elections in the past, against all odds.
“I’m a researcher, and I research opinions. In the northern states, Peter Obi under the PDP will defeat any candidate, because our people are very fair‑minded.
I must confess that many people have forgotten that the PDP was created as a grassroots organisation. In 1998, we were formed and then, moving to the elections in 1999, we were in every polling unit, because we are the ones who really won the first election.
Many people have forgotten that the PDP won most of the local governments. When it came to the presidential elections, we won the presidency, we won the Senate, and we won the House. We were totally in control, and that is why we were very delighted that we restored democracy to Nigeria and re‑established civil rule,” he said.
Jerry further noted that PDP deserves praise for rescuing Nigeria from military rule, stressing that the slogan “power to the people” was not just a saying.
He concluded by saying that the party has always believed in democracy, and that habit will not stop anytime soon.
“Because for a number of years there was military rule, but we successfully terminated that in a very democratic way, so the PDP was really as it were, a grassroots party.
That’s why when we said ‘power to the people’, we meant it because that was what it was, and it has been like that,” he added.
