Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North-West zone have distanced themselves from the reported endorsement of former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki (SAN), as the region’s consensus candidate for the party’s national chairmanship ahead of the November convention.
At a press briefing in Abuja, the PDP’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, speaking on behalf of stakeholders from the zone, dismissed the endorsement as unilateral and illegitimate.
Earlier in the week, the Chairman of the PDP National Convention Organising Committee and Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, had announced that Turaki was adopted as the consensus choice of northern leaders and governors.
However, he noted that any aspirant dissatisfied with the decision was still free to contest.
Bature, however, stated that the North-West had not held any meeting to arrive at such a decision, stressing that the region 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,” Umar Bature, PDP National Organising Secretary.
He emphasized that consensus decisions must arise from consultation and inclusion, not unilateral declarations.
“Consensus is made through consultation. We were neither consulted nor carried along before the announcement,” he said.
Bature also accused certain party leaders of sidelining key stakeholders from the North-West, warning that the region would resist any attempt at 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.
Among those present at the briefing were former National Secretary Ibrahim Tsauri, Mustapha Lamido (son of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido), Isah Ashiru Kudan (the PDP’s 2023 Kaduna governorship candidate), and several other zonal leaders.
At its 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in August, the PDP had zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South and the national chairmanship to the North, which was later micro-zoned to the North-West.
