Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors and a section of the National Working Committee (NWC) picked former Special Duties Minister Kabiru Tanimu Turaki as consensus national chairman to checkmate party chieftains rooting for election, it was learnt yesterday.
Three governors -Bala Mohammed (Bauchi State), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa) – led the consensus campaign, a party source said.
While the three governors also rallied support for a chairman from the Northwest, Makinde also pushed for the selection of his ally and former deputy governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, as National Secretary.
However, since Turaki was announced as consensus candidate, pro-Wike forces, the Northcentral Caucus of the party, Turaki’s home state Kebbi State executive and former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido have kicked against the move.
During his media chat at the weekend, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike faulted Fintiri for announcing a consensus candidate without wider consultation with party stakeholders.
The party stalwarts from the Northcentral complained that the next chairman should have been appointed from the zone to replace the former chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.
The Southeast House of Representatives Caucus has also threatened to boycot the convention scheduled for Ibadan, Oyo State capital, on November 15 and 16 if the Women Leader is not zoned to the region.
A party source said Northwest leaders, including Lamido, who is a contestant for chairman, has insisted on an elective primary.
He has also indicated his readiness to contest, the consensus announcement notwithstanding, the source added.
Those aspiring for positions in the NWC are expected to appear before a13-man Screening Committee set up by the Convention Committee tomorrow in Abuja.
Headed by Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), other members of the panel are Asue Ighodalo (Secretary), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Chief Aduke Marina, Josephine Amenities, Inna Ciroma, Zainab Marina, Mohammed Diri, Jacob Otorkoa, Emmaus Enoidem, Achike Udenwa, Felix Hassan Hyatt, and Chinedun Nwachulwu.
A source, who attended the meeting where Turaki was selected as the consensus candidate, said three aspirants indicated their intention to contest.
He said: “At the meeting, the governors asked those interested in the chairmanship position to indicate by raising their hands. Turaki and Senator Ibrahim Shekarau indicated their interest, while Senator Ahmed Makarfi told the meeting that Sule Lamido was interested in contesting the position, but was absent at the meeting.
“The governors asked them to go out and discuss among themselves and come back with their resolution. Makarfi was asked to represent Sule Lamido. We all know that Makarfi was interested, but he did not indicate probably because he knew it will be difficult for him to get the position.
“When they returned, Shekarau said he will stand by whatever decision the governors arrived at, especially if they settled for Turaki. Turaki said if the governors choose Shakarau, he will abide by the decision.
“They told the meeting that Lamido has insisted that no matter the decision arrived at, he was going ahead to contest the chairmanship. He claimed that he was asked to contest the position by the northern elders.
“After that, the governors met to deliberate and settled for Turaki. But Lamido has insisted that he will go ahead to contest, which is his right to do. But we all know that you need the governors to win and they are not comfortable with Lamido.
“The governors don’t want a man that will not respect them and that will tell them that whatever they are today, he has been there. They don’t want a man that will not answer them anytime they call. That is why they did not settle for Lamido.”
The source added: “When the governors settled for Turaki and announced it to the meeting, they called for desenting voices by asking those who are not at peace with the decision to say their mind. But nobody said anything.
“All those who are shouting now were at that meeting. The chairman of the PDP in Sokoto was at the meeting. He did not object and did not say anything. It was after they left the meeting that they started making noise. Sule Lamido’s people are making noise. He has gone to meet them and told him that they cannot select him because he will feel greater than all of them.”
However, a chieftain from the Northwest, Alhaji Umar Sani, said those opposed to the choice of Turaki are those bent on destabilizing the party for selfish and person gains.
Sani, who is a former spokesperson to former Vice President Namadi Sambo, described the meeting of the some Northwest leaders as a charade
He said: “The recent adoption of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN by the Northern Governors and key PDP stakeholders has unsettled a small but taciturn group of Northwest loyalists aligned with a southern politician hell bent on destabilizing the party.
“Led by the party’s National Organizing Secretary, Capt. Umar Bature, these dissenters from Kebbi, Sokoto, and Jigawa States are protesting the choice, arguing that since the chairmanship of the PDP has been zoned to the Northwest, only the zone itself should determine the nominee.
“This argument, however, is both historically and politically hollow. The chairman of a major political party is not merely a regional representative, but that of the whole federation.
“He is the engine room and rallying point of the entire political organization. His emergence cannot and has never been an exclusive regional affair. From Solomon Lar to Barnabas Gemade, Vincent Ogbulafor, Audu Ogbe, Ahmadu Ali, Okwesilieze Nwodo, Bamanga Tukur, and Adamu Mu’azu, party chairmen have always been products of broader consultations and the influence of powerful blocs within the PDP.
“Indeed, most chairmen were hand-picked or endorsed by sitting Presidents or leading power brokers within the party. Solomon Lar’s one-year protem tenure was an exception. He was chosen to set the ball rolling and put the party on a sound footing.
“Sen Ali Modu Sheriff, for example, was chosen to complete the Northeast tenure after the resignation of Adamu Muazu, through the intervention of Wike and Fayose. The Sen Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee was the brainchild of Babangida Aliyu and former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State in Port Harcourt.
“Prince Uche Secondus emerged through Wike’s backing, just as Sen Iyorchia Ayu was a joint product of Wike and Samuel Ortom. History, therefore, proves that party leaders and governors will always show interest in who leads them.
“Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri rightly reaffirmed the well-established PDP tradition by declaring that any dissatisfied aspirants are free to contest the position, an open and democratic invitation.
“Ironically, Capt. Umar Bature himself became National Organizing Secretary through a unilateral nomination by Sen Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. For him now to lead a rebellion against the collective will of the governors is a clear act and a demonstration of insubordination and ingratitude.
“His alliance with an erstwhile Kebbi PDP governorship candidate and a few handpicked PDP sympathizers from Sokoto and Jigawa states only exposes a desperate attempt to give false legitimacy to an unpopular stance. The Northwest cannot arrogate to itself the exclusive right to nominate the next PDP National Chairman when the position affects the whole country and the unity and functionality of the party nationwide.
“The choice of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki SAN reflects a deliberate and strategic consensus anchored on competence, character, and capacity to stabilize the PDP in turbulent times. Those who oppose such a choice for personal gain betray the collective interest of the party. The governors’ decision is steeped in wisdom and foresight, and any genuine lover of the PDP committed to the unity, stability, peace, and progress of the party should stand by it.
“In the end, the so-called Northwest meeting is nothing more than a charade of misplaced entitlement, a political tantrum by those who mistake selfish ambition for regional interest and arrogate to themselves powers they do not have.”
Following the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on August 25 in Abuja, the party resolved to zone the 2027 presidential ticket to the South and the National Chairman to the North.
Subsequently, northern leaders micro-zoned the chairmanship slot to the Northwest, producing three frontrunners: Makarfi, Lamido and Turaki (former Minister).
Wike: There is need for consultation
Wike said any push for consensus without wider consultation would not stand.
He said: “I don’t know about Tanimu Turaki becoming chairman; maybe he becomes chairman for another faction — it’s not the PDP I know.”
Northcentral frowns
A chieftain from Nassarawa State, Chief Mike Omeri, former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), said it is unfair that Ayu’s successor is being picked from the Northwest.
Also, a chieftain from Kogi State, Shaba Ibrahim, who represented Lokoja/Kotonkarfe Constituency in the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021said Northcentral has not been treated fairly.
He said: “For sure, many are not happy. We feel shortchanged.”
Also, a group, ‘PDP Strategic Stakeholders of the Northcentral Geo-political Zone,” said the decision to exclusive the zone could lead to crisis.
It described the exclusion “an act of insensitivity and manipulation” that disregards the constitutional rights and political equities of their zone.
According to the group, “by the PDP constitution, Ayu’s replacement ought to have come from his same geo-political zone, a convention the party failed to honour, leading to Ambassador Umar Damagum from the Northeast assuming the role of Acting National Chairman in clear breach of internal equity.
It added: “This is pure power hijacking that comes with far-reaching consequences,” the statement said. “Nobody is talking about it in the PDP, yet everybody expects peace and stability within the party.”
