In a revealing interview obtained by NewsVista, former Senate President and current chairman of the PDP Reconciliation Committee, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has sounded the alarm over potential high-level defections that could rock the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Arise TV on Friday, June 27, Saraki admitted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not out of the woods yet, despite ongoing reconciliation efforts. He hinted that at least one or two sitting governors and several senators may still exit the party in what he described as a challenging but necessary phase for PDP’s long-term stability.
“We haven’t seen the worst of it,” Saraki stated.
“It’s likely that more defections will happen — possibly involving one or two governors and a few senators. And we must prepare ourselves for that reality.”
Crisis as a Turning Point?
Despite the grim warning, Saraki was quick to flip the narrative — calling the timing of the party’s crisis a hidden blessing. According to him, the fact that the defections and leadership struggles are happening early enough in the political calendar gives the PDP a chance to rebuild and refocus before the 2027 elections fully kick off.
“Imagine if this happened in late 2026 — we wouldn’t have had time to recover. But now, with just under two years to the elections, we have time to reset the party.”
Saraki described the PDP as a party with deep roots and over 26 years of political history. Despite its current turbulence, he insisted that the party still holds strong structures at the grassroots and across many states.
A Future Beyond Survival
Looking ahead, Saraki emphasized that the PDP’s recovery must not only resolve current conflicts but also focus on ushering in new leadership.
“The next convention must not be business as usual. We must bring in younger, visionary faces who represent the future of this party.”
He warned that failure to revive the PDP could push Nigeria dangerously close to a one-party system, which he described as a serious threat to democracy.
“If PDP fails, Nigeria edges closer to a one-party state. And that would be a disaster for democratic balance.”
Internal Reconciliation in Motion
As previously reported by NewsVista, Saraki has remained vocal about his commitment to reunite fractured factions within the PDP. Speaking in Kwara State earlier this month, he revealed that reconciliation efforts were already gaining momentum, with key talks expected to shape the outcome of the PDP’s upcoming National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the end of June.
Though uncertainty looms, Saraki’s message is clear: the PDP can still rise — but only if it confronts its internal crisis with urgency, unity, and the courage to evolve.
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