Professor Jerry Gana, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has provided an assessment of the party’s strength in Nigeria’s Northeast region, while questioning former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s political dominance in his home zone.
Speaking during a candid interview on Arise TV, Prof. Gana highlighted the PDP’s current governmental presence in the Northeast and suggested the party’s influence extends beyond commonly recognized strongholds.
“I don’t know when last you were in Adamawa. I’ll take counsel from there—there is a PDP government in place in Adamawa, and it is real. It is in place. It is governing. He’s popular. He’s powerful,” Prof. Gana stated, referring to the current Adamawa State administration.
The veteran politician emphasized the party’s broader Northeast presence, noting: “How many people have gone with him? Oh, we have three governors in the whole of the Northeast where he comes from—in Bauchi, in Taraba, in Adamawa—and with the kind of murmurs that are going on, we are very strong again in Borno and Yobe and Gombe, the southern part where I’ve been. We’re always there.”
Prof. Gana suggested that even within Atiku’s traditional political base, the former Vice President faces significant challenges.
“What I’m now saying, even in the zone where he (Atiku) comes from, there will be very, very serious contention. So we’re not saying that he’s not strong, but Peter Obi will be far, far stronger,” he declared.
