Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
A former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Kawu Baraje, has urged governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to prepare to vacate their government houses in 2027, expressing confidence that the PDP will reclaim power at all levels.
Baraje described the APC governors as “tenants” in the government houses, arguing that the ruling party had failed Nigerians and therefore no longer deserved to remain in power.
He spoke with journalists at the Dutse International Airport while on his way to Azare, Bauchi State, where he led a delegation of PDP leaders on behalf of former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, to commission a 500-seater Computer-Based Test (CBT)/Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centre built and donated to the community by the PDP governorship candidate for the 2027 election, Adamu Usman Ahmed.
Baraje attributed the PDP’s previous electoral defeats largely to internal crises that weakened the party and undermined its chances at the polls.
He, however, maintained that the party had addressed the divisions and was now better positioned to stage a strong comeback in 2027.
According to him, the APC’s hold on the government houses is temporary, describing its governors as “tenants” who should be prepared to vacate office after the 2027 elections.
Reflecting on the disputed outcomes of the 2015 and 2023 elections, Baraje said the PDP accepted the results in the interest of peace and national stability, despite its reservations over the conduct and outcome of the polls.
“In 2015, when the election went the way it went, we never believed in those results, even in 2023, we never believed in the results of the elections but as peace-loving people, we let it because that was the desire of the people,” he said.
Baraje, however, claimed that public sentiment was now shifting against the APC, describing the development as a “revolution” that would return the PDP to power.
“But as you can see what is going on now, people are now rejecting them totally and are clamouring for the return of the PDP, so it’s some kind of revolution,” he said.
The former PDP chairman also commended the party’s Bauchi governorship candidate for investing in digital infrastructure, describing the 500-seat CBT/ICT centre as evidence of his commitment to youth empowerment.
He said the project demonstrated that Ahmed understood the importance of information technology to the present and future development of young people.
“The commissioning of this gigantic ICT centre established by our illustrious member is an indication that he’s prepared for both the present and the future because ICT speaks the language of the present and the future,” Baraje said.
Ahmed said he initiated the project to provide students in Azare and across Bauchi State with access to a modern CBT facility where they could conduct examinations in a conducive environment and participate in other digital activities.
He described the centre as the first of its kind in the North-East established through an individual initiative, expressing confidence that he would do more if elected governor in 2027.
Ahmed also congratulated the people of Osun State over the outcome of the recent governorship election, saying the state’s experience reflected a political pattern long associated with Bauchi.
He noted that Bauchi had historically maintained a tradition in which sitting governors did not necessarily determine who succeeded them, suggesting that the people, rather than incumbents, ultimately decide the outcome of elections.
“Bauchi State is well known for this, because there was never in Bauchi that installed his successor, so I can say that Osun people learnt from Bauchi,” he said.
