Former Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Political Affairs, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is no longer a viable political force and cannot be repaired. According to him, the party has been in steady decline for years and has largely destroyed itself through internal conflicts and poor leadership.
Baba-Ahmed made the remarks on Thursday during an interview on Arise Television, where he spoke on the state of Nigeria’s political environment ahead of the 2027 general elections. His comments have since generated reactions within political circles, especially among PDP members and supporters.
During the interview, Baba-Ahmed said the PDP has lost its relevance as a strong opposition party and is no longer capable of challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in any meaningful way.
“The PDP is drifting away. I think it is gone, and I do not believe anyone can fix it,” he said. “The PDP is not the only party capable of providing a credible opposition to the APC; there is the ADC and others.”
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and other smaller parties, he noted, now have the opportunity to fill the opposition gap left by the PDP’s internal collapse. According to him, Nigerians should stop seeing the PDP as the only alternative to the ruling party.
Baba-Ahmed argued that while the current administration has its shortcomings, too much blame is placed on the government without examining the failures of the opposition, especially the PDP.
“I think that sometimes we blame the government too much and we don’t pay attention to the damage that the PDP, the opposition, has done to itself,” he said. “The truth about it is that the PDP has been on a free fall for a long time.”
The former presidential aide explained that the PDP’s problems began after it lost power at the federal level in 2015. According to him, the party was not prepared for life in opposition after ruling Nigeria for 16 years.
“These are politicians who held power for a very long time and it turns out that these people never had any experience in being in the opposition,” he said. “They ran the country for years, and suddenly they lost power and they lost their heads.”
The PDP ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2015, producing four presidents and controlling many states across the federation. However, it lost the presidency to the APC in 2015, marking the first time an opposition party defeated a ruling party at the federal level in Nigeria’s history.
Since then, the PDP has struggled with leadership disputes, court cases, defections, and internal divisions. These challenges have weakened the party’s structure and reduced its influence across the country.
Baba-Ahmed said that instead of reorganising and learning how to function as an opposition party, PDP leaders turned against one another and allowed the party to split into factions.
“They allowed their party to split. They couldn’t find a way to either take the part that is left,” he said. “It’s not the first time PDP has taken a huge chunk of itself and given it to the opposition. This happened in 2015 and it’s happening again.”
He was referring to the wave of defections that helped form the APC ahead of the 2015 elections, when several PDP governors, lawmakers, and party leaders moved to the opposition. Similar defections have continued in recent years, further weakening the PDP.
Although Baba-Ahmed criticised the PDP heavily, he also admitted that President Tinubu is not without fault. He said there are areas where the President deserves criticism, particularly regarding power concentration.
“People blame Tinubu. I blame him as well, because there are areas clearly where he’s wrong,” he said. “He’s amassing too much power, or what appears to be too much power. He is actually collecting too many politicians around him. That’s not necessarily power.”
However, he stressed that the failures of the PDP cannot be blamed on President Tinubu or the APC alone. According to him, the opposition party has played the biggest role in its own decline.
“But what has the PDP done to itself?” he asked. “PDP has been involved in destroying itself consistently.”
Baba-Ahmed expressed disappointment that a party made up of experienced politicians failed to manage internal disagreements and maintain unity.
“What is amazing is that they started very well as a party, accomplished politicians, people who had served their country very well,” he said. “And certainly it has degenerated and this is where we are.”
Since the 2023 general elections, the PDP has continued to battle internal crises, including disputes over leadership positions, zoning arrangements, and the outcome of the presidential election. These issues have kept the party divided and distracted from rebuilding.
As Nigeria looks ahead to the 2027 elections, questions remain about whether the PDP can recover or whether new political movements will take its place as the main opposition force.
Baba-Ahmed’s statement suggests that he believes the PDP’s time has passed and that Nigerians should begin to look beyond the party for credible alternatives.
While PDP leaders are yet to officially respond to his remarks, party supporters insist that the party can still rebuild and remain relevant. They argue that the PDP still has a national spread and a strong support base in many states.