Former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has officially declared his intention to contest for the position of National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former foreign affairs minister is expected to pick up his nomination form today at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Lamido’s entry into the race comes amid controversy over the reported “consensus” adoption of former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, as the party’s northern choice.
His declaration is now seen as a direct challenge to that arrangement.
Reports from the party’s North-West chapters indicate strong rejection of Turaki’s endorsement, with many stakeholders describing the process as unfair and imposed. Some state chapters argued that they were never consulted before the decision was made.
The Kebbi State PDP chapter, for instance, had publicly rejected Turaki’s adoption, saying the decision by northern PDP governors was taken without the input of key party members. However, the chapter maintained that Turaki had not been active in recent party activities within the state.
“The Kebbi State chapter outrightly rejects the purported adoption of the former minister as the consensus candidate,” the party’s publicity secretary, Sani Dododo, said in a statement after an emergency meeting.
Meanwhile, the PDP’s national elective convention is scheduled to hold on November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, where delegates will decide the party’s next national leadership.
In a related development, some South-East PDP lawmakers have threatened to boycott the upcoming convention over alleged attempts to hijack the position of National Woman Leader, which was initially zoned to the region.
They claimed the position was being redirected to the South-South under the influence of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.
House of Representatives member, Hon. Imo Ugochinyere, said the South-East lawmakers would not participate in the convention if the region was sidelined. He stressed that there was still time for the party to correct the imbalance before the screening of candidates.
He added, “The current South-east zonal woman leader, Ifeyinwa Arodiogbu, was unanimously backed by South-east PDP chieftains to clinch the position before Governor Mbah, who is now in APC, influenced the zoning to Enugu and took the woman leader for Enugu after supporting Gov. Makinde to take the National Secretary that belonged to South-east and Imo State to South-west.”
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
