‘They Feared I Couldn’t Be Controlled’ — Lamido
By: Ahmed Aminu, Dutse
The former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has opened up on his ongoing legal tussle with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), expressing deep worries over the actions that forced him to seek redress in court.
Lamido, one of the remaining founding fathers of the PDP, spoke during an interview with the BBC Hausa Service monitored in Dutse.
He said the dispute between him and his party was a “painful and unfortunate situation,” especially considering his long-standing loyalty and sacrifices for the PDP.
According to him, he approached the court after he was denied the nomination form to contest for the position of National Chairman during the party’s national convention—an action that came without any explanation.
The ex-governor noted that “I went to court because I was denied the form to participate in the contest for National Chairman. There was no reason given. It was simply blocked,”.
Lamido alleged that some PDP governors deliberately prevented him from contesting because they feared he would not be controlled by any individual or interest group if elected as chairman.
He revealed that Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed personally called him to dissuade him from pursuing the chairmanship position.
“Bala Mohammed personally called me and said, my senior brother, you are too strong for us. If you become the national chairman, we cannot own and control you.’ I reminded him that when the PDP was formed in 1999, he was not even around. Many of us laboured to build this party from the ground up,” Lamido stated.
Lamido, also a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, said when he arrived at the PDP national secretariat to buy the nomination form only to meet the offices locked, “We went there and found the office locked. There was no means to obtain the form. That was why we went to court to seek redress.”
Lamido said that the court ruling ordering the PDP to make the form available to him and provide adequate time for campaigns before conducting the national convention has been officially served and acknowledged by both the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to him, the whole PDP national convention was “null and void” until the court conditions are fully met.
Reflecting on his decades in politics, Lamido said it pained him deeply to drag the party he helped build to court but stressed that the injustice could not be ignored.
“I am seriously worried and disturbed that I had to take my own party to court. This is a party that has given me opportunities, and I have served it with loyalty. But the injustice was too much to overlook.”
Lamido appealed to PDP members and stakeholders across Nigeria to put aside grudges, personal interests, and internal conflicts in order to rebuild the party and restore its national relevance.
“We must forgive one another and put the party and the country first. Only then can the PDP bounce back stronger and help save Nigeria.”
