Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North-West zone have rejected the reported endorsement of former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki (SAN), as the region’s consensus candidate for national chairman ahead of the party’s November national convention.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday night, the PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, who spoke on behalf of the zone’s stakeholders, described the endorsement as unilateral and lacking legitimacy.
On Wednesday, the Chairman of the PDP National Convention Organising Committee and Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, announced that Turaki had been adopted as the consensus choice of northern leaders and governors. He, however, added that any aspirant dissatisfied with the decision could still contest.
Bature, however, clarified that the North-West had not met to take such a decision, insisting that the zone would soon present its own preferred candidate.
“The North-West has not met to agree on that position. We are the zone to which the national chairmanship has been zoned, and it is unfair for others to decide for us,” Bature said.
“Consensus is made through consultation. We were neither consulted nor carried along before the announcement.”
He accused some party leaders of sidelining key stakeholders from the North-West, warning that the region would resist any imposition.
“We believe we are the strongest zone in the PDP. The attitude of our leaders made us take this position. We disagree with the governors’ endorsement, and we will nominate our own candidate,” he added.
The PDP’s National Executive Committee had, at its 102nd meeting in August, zoned the 2027 presidential ticket to the South and the national chairmanship to the North. The position was later micro-zoned to the North-West.
Present at the briefing were former National Secretary Ibrahim Tsauri; Mustapha Lamido, son of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido; the PDP’s 2023 Kaduna governorship candidate, Isah Ashiru Kudan; and other zonal leaders.