When Greed Overrides Wisdom: How Atiku and the PDP Squandered a Winning Coalition

By George Omagbemi Sylvester

It is a tragedy, an unforgivable political miscalculation that Nigeria’s main opposition parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), willingly forfeited their best chance at national redemption. They did not lose because of APC’s strength or Tinubu’s so-called masterstroke. They lost because of arrogance, greed and an unforgivable betrayal of their most strategic internal voices; the G-5 Governors.

Those who have neither deep pockets nor godfather connections, those without bullion vans or foreign campaign donors have always deserved more respect in the political equation. Yet, under the leadership of Atiku Abubakar, the PDP arrogantly reduced its broad-based support system into a cult of cash-driven influence. That was the death knell.

The PDP’s fatal sin was not just fielding Atiku Abubakar as its 2023 presidential candidate, it was turning its back on the five governors who had stood by the party in its darkest hours: Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Seyi Makinde (Oyo). Known as the G-5 or Integrity Governors, they embodied the ideological, ethnic and political balance the PDP needed. But they were cast aside in favor of Atiku’s ambition.

The Arrogance of Imposition

Atiku Abubakar’s emergence in 2023 was an imposition, not a consensus. The PDP’s constitution and internal rotational agreements clearly stated that power should return to the South after President Buhari’s eight years. Instead, Atiku, a northerner like Buhari, bulldozed his way back to the presidential ticket, forcing Southerners to take the back seat in a party they helped build from the ground up.

Worse still, he made no effort to negotiate or pacify aggrieved blocs. The G-5 demanded only one thing: that the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu (also from the North), step down to reflect regional balance. Atiku refused.

As Wike bluntly put it: “You can’t have the presidential candidate and national chairman from the same region. What kind of party is that?” His warning was dismissed as noise.

The Fallout of Betrayal

That betrayal fractured the PDP irrevocably. In the 2023 presidential election, the PDP lost four of the five G-5 states. Rivers State previously a PDP fortress went to Tinubu. Oyo voted APC. Benue abandoned the PDP. Enugu and Abia turned out weak figures for the party. The Labour Party won most of the Southeast, capitalizing on PDP’s internal betrayal.

The outcome was predictable. You don’t alienate your most strategic governors and expect miracles at the polls.

In politics, optics and loyalty matter as much as money and strategy. But Atiku and his loyalists failed to understand that a campaign fueled by dollars without grassroots integrity is destined to fail. That is why, despite being on his fifth presidential attempt, Atiku still could not win the trust of Nigerians.

Labour Party: A Missed Opportunity as Well

The Labour Party, though fresh in its appeal, also failed to capitalize on this disaffection. Rather than build strategic alliances with aggrieved PDP factions like the G-5, Peter Obi ran a largely solo campaign. The LP mistook social media applause for political structure. That was a costly misreading of Nigerian politics.

In a nation where governors still control the levers of power, delegates, logistics and security but ignoring the G-5 bloc was an amateur mistake. With Wike’s war chest and Ortom’s moral voice, LP could have formed a Southern alliance strong enough to break APC’s northern grip.

But egos got in the way.

A Nation Betrayed by Its Opposition

This is not just the failure of a party, it is the failure of Nigeria’s democratic opposition. Instead of rising above selfish ambition, opposition parties became fractured camps driven by personal goals. Atiku wanted to be President at all costs. Obi wanted to prove he could do it without them. The result? Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the godfather of Lagos politics walked into Aso Rock with just 36% of the total vote, the lowest winning margin in Nigerian history.

To quote Chinua Achebe, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” Nowhere is this more evident than in the opposition’s refusal to work together.

Money Bags vs. Grassroots Integrity

For too long, Nigerian politics has favored the “money bags” politicians whose wealth determines their worth. But the G-5 were not just governors. They were symbols of the battle against a system rigged against internal democracy. By demanding equity in leadership and power rotation, they were fighting for the soul of the party.

Atiku and his camp chose to mock them, label them “rebels,” and remove them from the decision-making table. That was short-sighted. What is the value of a presidential ticket if you can’t carry your strongest foot soldiers along?

The Integrity That Was Ignored

Samuel Ortom stood firmly against Fulani herdsmen attacks and spoke truth to federal power at a time others cowered. Ikpeazu and Ugwuanyi stabilized volatile states in the Southeast. Makinde emerged as one of the most popular PDP governors in the Southwest. And Wike say what you will is one of the few governors who stood firm for the PDP during the APC storm from 2015 onwards. These were not rebels. These were warriors. The PDP chose to insult them instead of rewarding their loyalty.

The Consequences Are Still Unfolding

Today, the PDP is a shell of itself. Internally broken, externally defeated, ideologically confused. The party has lost the trust of the South, the votes of the Middle Belt and the coordination that once made it a national force.

Labour Party, now grappling with internal leadership crises and court cases, is also at risk of becoming another elitist club without grassroots cohesion.

If a coalition had been formed between the G-5, the LP and select APC defectors in 2023, Nigeria could have had a different President today. But instead, the people were robbed of that possibility by egos and elite blindness.

Quotes That Echo Loudly

“Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians,” Charles de Gaulle once said. Sadly, Nigeria’s opposition parties proved that quote accurate. They had the chance to rescue the nation from decades of rot. Instead, they chose themselves.

The G-5 were not perfect, but they understood what many in PDP and LP failed to grasp: winning elections requires unity, structure, and sincerity of purpose not just ambition and money.

As Nelson Mandela once said, “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front.” Atiku and the PDP elite did the opposite. They led from the front, with no army behind them.

In Conclusion: Lessons for 2027

If the opposition is to have any chance in 2027, they must start now not with ticket hoarding or backroom deals, but with sincerity and unity. Let there be no repeat of the betrayal of the G-5 governors. Let power rotation be respected. Let alliances be based on principle not just platform.

The future of Nigeria’s democracy depends not only on who is in power but on how those who seek power treat one another.

The G-5 are still relevant. Ignore them again and Nigeria may suffer the same fate, a recycled presidency, imposed leadership and dashed hope.