PDP defunct: Ganduje revisits Nigeria’s political history

Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a “defunct political party” while reflecting on Nigeria’s political history and the circumstances surrounding the country’s independence from British colonial rule.

Ganduje made the remark on Wednesday at the Annual Conference of the Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria in Abuja, while acknowledging former Delta State Governor and former PDP vice-presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, whom he described as his elder brother.

“My big brother, the former governor of Delta State and a former vice-presidential candidate of the defunct party, PDP,” Ganduje said.

Beyond his comment on the PDP, the former Kano State governor discussed the motives behind British colonial rule in Nigeria, arguing that the colonial authorities brought the country’s diverse territories together primarily to secure raw materials for industrial development in Britain.

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According to Ganduje, the colonial administration’s decision to unite the territories was driven by economic interests rather than a deliberate effort to build a stronger Nigerian nation.

“The colonial masters, when they came to Nigeria through missionary and other routes, they found us and our old system of governance,” he said.

He argued that the British subsequently brought the territories together to facilitate the production of raw materials for their industries.

“In order to promote protection in their own country, they decided to put us together so that we can work and produce raw materials for their own industrial development. That was their primary objective and not an objective that we should come together and become a stronger country,” he said.

Ganduje also commended Nigeria’s First Republic politicians for fostering nationalism and leading the struggle for independence through political organisation and mobilisation.

He said their efforts resulted in the formation of political parties and ultimately secured independence for Nigeria without the armed struggle experienced by some other countries.

“We are so lucky that we didn’t carry arms like other nations to get independence,” he said.

His remarks at the conference covered both contemporary party politics and Nigeria’s historical journey to independence, highlighting his views on the PDP and the role of nationalist leaders in shaping the country’s political development.