Former legal adviser of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Jacob Mark, has issued a scathing assessment of current coalition talks involving some PDP members, dismissing them as “political window shopping” rather than a serious alliance.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Mark was emphatic in his rejection of what he described as a misguided and illegitimate political trend among some party figures.
“You cannot belong to two political parties. You must belong to one,” he said. “So when people say they are doing coalition, they are in PDP, and then they are in ADC, I don’t take them serious.”
Mark criticised individuals who have not officially resigned from the PDP but are already engaging in coalition politics. He emphasised that a proper coalition must be an agreement between parties, not individuals freelancing across the political spectrum.
“A coalition that will work is a coalition that will be a working arrangement between political parties, not individuals, particularly those who are here in Abuja,” he said.
When asked whether prominent figures like David Mark and Atiku Abubakar fall under the label of political “window shoppers,” Mark responded candidly,
“David Mark has resigned, which is what I expect every other person serious about coalition to do. So he’s out of the window shopping.”
But he made it clear that others, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, still fit that label.
“Certainly, until he resigns, until he resigns from the PDP, I will not take him seriously. Because you cannot be shopping for a presidential ticket in ADC and shopping for a presidential ticket in PDP at the same time. That is not allowed by law.”
Mark also offered a blunt diagnosis of the PDP’s internal decline, blaming successive party leaders for eroding its disciplinary structures.
“People who took over from us degraded the party, degraded its disciplinary, working machinery, and made the party a laughingstock,” he said.
On the long-standing issue of defection and lack of consequences for anti-party behavior, Mark was unsparing, “People walk in and out, come back, every time you go where you want, come back and take a slot in the PDP again… Now, in our time, you dare not try that. We will expel you.”
When pressed on whether he would support Governor Seyi Makinde for president if he emerged as PDP’s candidate, Mark replied, “If Seyi Makinde comes out and he wins the primaries, I will support him.”
He praised Makinde’s youth, governance record, and potential appeal, noting,
“I’ve seen some of the things he’s doing and I like him. He’s younger than most of these people running up and down.”
However, Mark called for focus on governance rather than premature campaigning.
“Two years into the sitting administration, the entire political discourse is now about the next election. And for me, it’s absurd.”
He urged Nigeria’s political class to return attention to public service.
“Are the people of Nigeria benefiting from the democracy that we claim to be practicing? Or are we going to concentrate only on elections every time?… I truly think that we should redirect all discussions to whether Nigeria is better with this democracy.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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