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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Peoples Democratic Party( PDP), stakeholders from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) has said that the party’s 2023 presidential candidate will be determined at the May 28/29 convention.
The stakeholders, led by former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, stated this after a meeting, on Monday, in Abuja. They maintained that all the PDP presidential aspirants are qualified to lead the country.
The meeting was attended by Lamido, former Adamawa State governor, Bonnie Haruna; former Minister of Police Affairs, Adamu Waziri, former Kogi State governor, Ibrahim Idris; former Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu; former Minister of National Planning, Sanusi Dagash among others.
Lamido, while briefing journalists, on behalf of the stakeholders, after their meeting, said the parley is necessitated by the selection of Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, as Northern PDP consensus presidential aspirants by some northern elders.
The former governor, who said they are aware that the presidential aspirants are discussing among themselves, urged them to work to promote harmony within the PDP.
“We would like to state from the onset that there is nothing called the
Northern PDP. Our coming together as key stakeholders from the
Northern States is only for the purpose
of debunking any notion or
impression which might have been created by Prof Ango Abdullahi
media statement about the Northern Elders Forum having shortlisted consensus PDP presidential candidates.
“The People’s Democratic Party as conceived by its founding fathers is
and remains the foremost National Political platform wherein the
Democratic aspirations of its teeming members can be actualized
devoid of any sectional consideration. Our party is neither Northern
nor Southern but Nigeria!
“We are happy to note that The Northern Elders Forum has through its Secretary Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed disassociated itself from Prof Ango’s media statement. They made it clear that it is Ango’s personal opinion.
“The Aspirants have informed us that they are discussing among
themselves. They are consulting other senior citizens in order to create a better understanding and unity among themselves. Their ultimate objective is to build a National Consensus that will produce a national candidate for the party. We urge them to keep up with this commendable effort.
‘Our meeting today is to reinforce on the press release issued on 23/4/22 by Gov. Sule Lamido. We maintain that all our aspirants are qualified to occupy the Nigerian Presidency under the PDP banner and we shall continue to support, promote and campaign and win
the Presidency by the candidate produced by our National convention scheduled for May 28th – 29th 2022.
“We appeal to all Aspirants to be more temperate in their utterances and work to promote harmony and better understanding within the PDP family,” they stated.
