Northern Youths Group Criticizes Ex-Governor Lamido Over PDP Comments

The Northern Youths Movement (NYM) has condemned former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, for recent remarks he made regarding the internal affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a recent critique, Lamido referred to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, as a “small boy in PDP history” and questioned Wike’s contributions, asking, “Where was he in 1999?”

Responding on Sunday through a statement signed by its Chairman, Mallam Ishaya Jato, the NYM reminded Lamido that the individuals he disparaged as “children” were instrumental in keeping the PDP alive following the party’s 2014 crisis—a period in which Lamido himself played a notable role before withdrawing.

The youth group expressed irony over the fact that those considered “children” at the PDP’s inception have since grown into political leaders, while some party veterans continue to act divisively.

“After serving as a minister and an eight-year governor, it’s telling that Lamido could only offer his own son as PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in Jigawa State,” the NYM noted.

“If Lamido, who became a party elder at 50, considers 57-year-old Wike a ‘small boy,’ we wonder what status Lamido has assumed 36 years after. Has he now become an ‘ancestral PDP elder’?”

The group further accused Lamido of belittling former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, as well as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

The NYM highlighted that Lamido, in 2021, reportedly dismissed Obasanjo as “an unknown prisoner when PDP was formed.”

In 2019, he described Atiku as his junior in politics, referencing his tenure in the House of Representatives in 1979, while Atiku was employed by Nigerian Customs.

“As PDP governor, Lamido consistently criticized Jonathan’s administration as a failure and continued to undermine him post-presidency,” the group added.

The NYM accused Lamido of deceiving Atiku into believing he was the “President-in-Waiting” months ahead of the 2023 election, which they claim led to the party’s eventual loss.

The group also defended Wike and other governors, including Seyi Makinde, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for refusing to be sidelined in the party.

InfoStride News notes that the PDP has continued to face internal strife following its loss in the 2023 presidential election, which has compounded the leadership crisis within the party.