Presidential hopeful and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has declared that the PDP remains the only truly democratic political party in Nigeria and one that no individual or group can pocket or control.

Speaking during a live interview on the AIT Democracy Today programme, Olawepo-Hashim said the PDP’s long-standing tradition of competitive primary elections and respect for its constitution distinguishes it from every other political part in the country.

According to him, even as a sitting president in 2003, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had to submit himself to a hotly contested primary election in his bid for re-election, facing strong challengers such as Barnabas Gemade, Abubakar Rimi, and Alex Ekwueme, aspirants drawn from both the North and the South.

He noted that this mirrored the 1999 PDP presidential primary, which was also vigorously contested by candidates across the country. “PDP is the only democratic party in Nigeria that nobody or group can pocket.

The party has always maintained an open space for competition, and that is why it has survived over two decades in a very difficult political environment,” Olawepo-Hashim said.

He added that this tradition of internal democracy has kept the PDP vibrant and made it a consistent platform for leaders committed to constitutionalism, the rule of law, and national unity.

Olawepo-Hashim contrasted this with the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the ruling party neither debates issues internally nor holds regular meetings, and therefore lacks the capacity for collective problem solving.

“A party that discusses issues like PDP has a greater tendency to address Nigeria’s challenges than APC. Despite PDP’s own challenges, its achievements remain unmatched. APC has dragged the country backwards, and its rigid, top-down style is cast in iron, a sure recipe for stagnation,” he said.

He urged PDP members and Nigerians at large to defend and preserve the party’s democratic values, warning that replacing open competition with imposition would erode the PDP’s uniqueness and weaken Nigeria’s democratic progress.

Thrown his weight behind the speculated return of former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and former Labour Party flagbearer Peter Obi to the PDP fold, Olawepo-Hashim welcomed the potential contenders, declaring that, “the more, the merrier.”

He insisted that far from weakening the party, a competitive and transparent presidential primary will reawaken the PDP’s legacy as the true party of democracy in Nigeria.

“The PDP was never meant to be an exclusive club. From day one, it was designed to be a national platform, a big umbrella for all shades of opinion, ideology, and aspiration,” Hashim said.

He reflected on the party’s formation in 1998, and recalled how a journalist in the publicity sub-committee, which he served as secretary under the chairmanship of the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo proposed the umbrella symbol, now one of Nigeria’s most iconic political emblems.

“We had giants of Nigeria’s political class under one roof, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Chief Solomon Lar, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Chief Melford Okilo, Prof. Jubril Aminu, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, and many others, all men who could have been good president.

Yet some dropped their initial ambition as things developed, while others went ahead and submitted themselves to a fair contest in Jos in 1999, which Chief Olusegun Obasanjo eventually won.”

Hashim emphasised that it was free and fair internal democracy that gave PDP its strength in its early years, not backdoor consensus or gatekeeping politics.

He hailed the inclusive leadership of the party’s interim chairman at the time, Lar, who kept the doors wide open for all. “Those who feared competition quietly exited the founding process.

But we pressed on, and Nigeria benefitted,” he said, advocating for a return to the party’s founding ideals of openness, tolerance, and democratic excellence. “If Jonathan, Atiku, Obi and others wish to contest, they should be welcomed. Let the best ideas and visions emerge through fair competition.

That is how to build a party of the future,” he concluded. In another development, the PDP presidential hopeful’s $4 trillion economic blueprint, first unveiled in 2018, but now revived in national discourse, is being discussed as a bold, detailed and executable pathway to rescue Nigeria’s ailing economy.

The plan envisions growing the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from today’s struggling levels to $4 trillion within a decade, powered by aggressive diversification, industrial expansion, infrastructure overhaul and massive private sector participation.

Analysts do not see this vision as a campaign talking point, but as a policy compass capable of uniting the PDP under a credible economic recovery agenda.

The renewed interest in the plan comes at a time when Nigerians are desperate for practical solutions to the cost of living crisis, record unemployment, and a collapsing manufacturing base.

They say if adopted as a central plank of the PDP manifesto, Olawepo-Hashim’s proposal could help position the opposition party as a serious contender for power in 2027, offering voters a clear alternative to the ruling APC’s track record.

For many Nigerians, the $4 trillion target may sound ambitious, but supporters argue that the clear targets inspire clear action and the PDP, with experienced technocrats and tested political machinery, could translate the vision into reality.