On June 8, Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno south, claimed that 22 governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) endorsed then-President Goodluck Jonathan in the buildup to the 2015 elections.
Speaking during an interview with Channels Television, Ndume said despite the governors’ endorsement, Jonathan lost his re-election bid in the 2015 presidential election “woefully”.
The Borno senator had warned Tinubu not to be carried away by the endorsements of governors, citing what happened to Jonathan in 2015.
“Jonathan had 22 governors then endorsing him, like was done now. And what happened? Jonathan lost woefully”, Ndume had said.
In May, the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) formally endorsed Tinubu as the sole candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 presidential election.
The ranks of the APC have been increasing in numbers as governors and lawmakers have been defecting to the ruling party in recent times.
BUHARI DEFEATED JONATHAN IN 2015
On April 1, 2015, former President Muhammadu Buhari, then-APC candidate, was declared the winner of the 2015 presidential election.
Buhari polled a total of 15,424,921 votes to defeat incumbent Jonathan of the PDP, who secured 12,853,162 votes.
The election signalled the end of the reign of PDP since the party took over power when the country returned to democratic rule in 1999.
The APC won the 2015 presidential election barely two years after the party was formed by a coalition of some political parties and a disgruntled faction of the PDP.
HOW CRACKS IN PDP LED TO 2015 DEFEAT
At the end of the 2011 elections, the PDP controlled the federal level after Jonathan won the presidential election.
The party controlled at least 22 states, while Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was in power in five south-west states and Edo, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) controlled three states.
All Progressives Grand Congress (APGA), Labour Party (LP), and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) controlled at least one state.
Although not all states participated in the 2011 governorship elections due to legal issues, the PDP still maintained an overwhelming majority when the off-cycle election was conducted.
Jonathan, who was the vice-president to former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, became president when Yar’Adua died in May 2010.
Jonathan completed Yar’Adua’s tenure and won the 2011 election.
The division in PDP started when some party stakeholders insisted that Jonathan, a southerner, should allow a northerner to contest the 2015 election since Yar’Adua, a northerner, was unable to complete his tenure due to his demise.
CRACKS IN NGF
In May 2013, Amaechi, then governor of Rivers state, was re-elected as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).
Amaechi won the election by 19 votes to defeat his challenger, Jonah Jang, former governor of Plateau, who had 16 votes.
Amaechi, who was at that time a PDP member, was opposed by the party’s national leadership and Jonathan for the top role in the forum.
The PDP leadership had preferred Jang.
Despite losing the election, Jang declared himself the chairman of the forum — a development that led to factions within the NGF.
Amaechi would later join the APC some months after the election.
In August 2013, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and seven governors staged a walk-out from the national convention of PDP at the Eagles Square in Abuja.
The seven governors were Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Wammako of Sokoto, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Muazu Aliyu of Niger, Abdulfattah Ahmed of Kwara, and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers.
Abubakar Baraje, a former chairman of the PDP, some senators, and members of the house of representatives also joined the protest walkout.
The disgruntled PDP members, who later formed the new PDP (nPDP), accused the party leadership and Jonathan of the imposition of candidates and impunity.
In November 2013, the nPDP – the breakaway faction — joined the newly created APC.
Of the seven PDP governors who joined the walk-out protest, five of them joined the APC, excluding Lamido and Aliyu.
Consequently, the number of PDP governors reduced ahead of the 2015 elections.
PDP GOVERNORS ENDORSE JONATHAN
In September 2014, PDP governors endorsed Jonathan as the sole candidate of the party ahead of the 2015 elections.
The governors who attended the meeting were Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Idris Wada of Kogi, Liyel Imoke of Cross River, Ramalan Yero of Kaduna, Theodore Orji of Abia, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, Jonah Jang of Plateau, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, Sullivan Chime of Enugu, Gabriel Suswam of Benue, Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa (acting capacity), and Garba Umar of Taraba.
The governors of Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto, and Kebbi were represented by their deputies.
Sixteen PDP governors including deputies were present when Jonathan was endorsed as the sole presidential candidate of the party.
At no point did 22 governors endorse Jonathan, as five of them had decamped to the newly formed APC.
VERDICT
The claim that 22 governors endorsed Jonathan for the 2015 election is incorrect.
