Former Governor Gabriel Suswam has blamed ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for the political calamity the Peoples Democratic Party has been experiencing since 2015.

“If former president Olusegun Obasanjo had stayed and guided we (sic) the younger ones, we wouldn’t have lost the 2015 election. But the leader of the party decided to unceremoniously leave the party (at) that time, leaving it with no single leadership,” said the former governor.

Mr Suswam ascribed the recent mass defection of key PDP members in Delta to leadership incompetence within the opposition party.

In an interview aired on Arise TV on Tuesday, Mr Suswan said the defections would worsen as they are bound to happen in other PDP-controlled states.

The former governor said, “The defections you see in Delta are bound to happen in other states. It is going to get worse because in any organisation that doesn’t have good leadership, there is no way you can expect better.”

Mr Suswam, however, noted he could not blame former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and others for their decision to leave the opposition for the ruling All Progressives Congress, acknowledging their frustration with PDP.

“I don’t blame Governor Okowa for the decision he took. If you’re the one who is not comfortable with the leadership of the party, you would take the same stand,” stated Mr Suswam. “There are many who have not left but have no single interest in the PDP any longer. They are just watching”

Meanwhile, the PDP has vowed to sanction former governors and other elected officers supporting President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.

Acting national chairman Umar Damagun, in a press conference on Tuesday, also instructed the party’s legal adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, to institute a legal process to remove Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.