Urhoghide Reveals Those Responsible For Atiku’s Loss In 2023 Election

Former Edo South Senator, Matthew Urhoghide, has accused the suspended National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, and the G-5 governors of being responsible for the loss of the party in the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Urhoghide said the in-fighting between Ayu and the G-5 governors led to the defeat of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 polls.

Urhoghide, who recently dumped the PDP, said the sudden exit of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, from the party was also responsible for Atiku’s defeat.

The former senator believed the outcome of the February 25 presidential election could have been different and its presidential candidate could have won if the PDP had presented a united front.

He said: “The election was there for Atiku to win so much that even the APC acknowledged it. Former President Muhammadu Buhari also admitted that it was the division in the PDP that caused our loss. That was also what Adams Oshimhole was referring to when he appeared on your platform.

“It is a sound school of thought. Obi should have been allowed to remain in PDP. If that had happened, we could have replicated what happened in 2019. That’s because the vote that he got, whether by popularity or whatever happened to him in the PDP that made him leave, would have helped to bring in votes.

“Let me also say this. Even though the governors (G-5) were overbearing by their actions insisting that the National Chairman of the party step down, of course we know the reason, they felt bad maybe because they were not made the party’s presidential candidate. But, at least, we could have avoided any rancour that was going to arise from the decision to pick another person.

“The only thing that should have been done by the chairman was to say ‘If it will take me stepping aside for the party to win, why not?’ I don’t know what persuaded Senator Iyorchia Ayu to stay. But knowing him and who he is, he is a gentleman. If I were Ayu, I would have stepped down. What was important to the party was to win the election. Everything will fall into place. That was equally what happened in my state, Edo, where the PDP came third.”