The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to the defection of the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and Rivers State Governor, Similanayi Fubara, to the Accord Party and All Progressives Congress (APC), respectively, admitting that unresolved internal issues contributed to Adeleke's exit.
Speaking on Channels Television's The Morning Brief, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said the party failed to tackle the leadership challenges that eventually pushed Adeleke away.
He said, "Adeleke is a victim of circumstance, and those circumstances were created by human failings within the party. Every problem has a human cause and therefore, should also have a human solution, but decisive action was not taken early enough. If leadership had acted firmly from 2023, when the decline began, the outcome might have been different."
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Ememobong added that the party's belief that the situation would settle on its own only worsened tensions.
"Sometimes leaders believe that once passions cool, people will reconsider their positions. But that didn't happen here, and by the time the convention took decisive action in Ibadan, things had already gone too far. That is how he became a victim of vicarious liabilities that he could not completely detach himself from," he said.
He dismissed comparisons between Adeleke's case and that of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, saying the two situations were different.
"We are not making excuses for anyone. Both situations are circumstantial, and even the victims had roles they played in the conflicts that engulfed them. But in the case of Fubara, he voluntarily became the party's candidate, and those who supported him have repeatedly spoken about the agreements made. Till today, he hasn't told anyone what the agreement was.
"We sympathise deeply with Fubara, because he is a calm and gentle person pushed to the wall. But we frown at the attempt to shift blame after he personally told Nigerians it was a 'father-son matter.' This is classic Stockholm syndrome, where the captive falls in love with the captor, and it leads to conscious amnesia about where the real blame should be placed."
On the Rivers legal battle, he also faulted delays from the Supreme Court.
"When fighting for a person, the person must feel you are fighting for him. But throughout that period, the governor discouraged people from fighting, insisting he would 'resolve it.' You cannot cry more than the bereaved. No one can administer an injection to a patient who insists the injection will kill him."
He said senior lawyers had complained that the Supreme Court simply failed to assign a hearing date.
Despite internal crises, Ememobong rejected claims that the PDP had collapsed.
"A political party is the hotbed of conflict because it is a potpourri of heterogeneous struggles for power. To say the PDP has failed would mean there was an examination set and a score given, and that's not the case. Even the ruling party faces its own internal battles despite having a President," he said.
He added that the party is engaging its governors ahead of 2027 but will not plead with anyone to remain.