Founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Jerry Gana, has asserted that former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi would outperform any opponent in Nigeria’s northern region if he contested under the PDP banner.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Wednesday, Gana, a former minister of information, said: “I’m a researcher, and I study public opinion. In the northern states, Peter Obi, under the PDP, would defeat any candidate because our people are very fair-minded.”
Obi left the PDP in May 2022 to become the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections.
Reflecting on the PDP’s origins, Gana emphasized the party’s grassroots foundation and its central role in Nigeria’s return to democracy.
“Many people have forgotten that the PDP was established as a grassroots organization. By the 1999 elections, we had a presence in every polling unit and won at all levels—local governments, the presidency, the Senate, and the House. We restored democratic governance after years of military rule.”
Commenting on recent internal disputes within the PDP, Gana dismissed them as minor and limited to elite circles in Abuja.
“The recent issues were confined to a few elites in Abuja; they didn’t extend beyond that.”
He also touched on the party’s zoning principles and the future of leadership rotation.
“In 2031, it will be the North’s turn. Our people believe in fairness—we are building a united nation.”
Gana served in various key roles during Nigeria’s transition to democracy, including as Minister of Information and National Orientation under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2003.
