PDP lost in 2015 for fielding Jonathan alone at primary

The PDP lost in the 2015 presidential election because the party fielded only former President Goodluck Jonathan at the party’s primary election, a Peoples Democratic Party presidential aspirant, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has said.

Kwankwaso, who represents Kano-Central in the National Assembly, said this on Friday while speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

He said with the number of aspirants in the PDP presidential race compared to that of 2015, the party’s chance of victory in next year’s election was high.

“In 2015, PDP had only one candidate and it lost the election. If you look at it statistically, from 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, PDP had very competitive (aspirants) at primary elections and was winning the general elections in those election years. But in 2015, it decided to print only one form for one person and it lost the election”, he said.

Kwankwaso attributed the movement of many PDP members to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the 2015 general elections to impunity.

“PDP, in my opinion, learnt its lessons. In 2015, PDP was very arrogant and believed that whatever happens, they would win the elections.

“They (PDP) never thought that an incumbent could lose the election. They had at that time, some level of impunity that many of us felt that was not the best way to handle the government, the party and of course the country.

“That was why we decided to defect to the APC, mobilised the people and at the end of the day, we won the election,” he said.