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Thu, Mar

2023: PDP Sets Stage For Presidential Ticket Candidature

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The 2019 Election Review Committee set up by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to appraise the performance of the party in the last general election has recommended to the party that it should allow interested members of the party to throw in their hats, irrespective of their geo-political zones. The Governor of Bauchi state, Bala Mohammed, who is the chairman of the committee made the recommendation at the party secretariat in Abuja yesterday, while presenting his report to the National Working Committee (NWC). 

The committee hinged its opinion on the premise that Nigeria has capable hands that can stir the affairs of the country out of the present predicament as they claimed. The report said, “In line with certain unwritten conventions of the nation’s history, many people think that, for fairness and equity, the North-East and South-East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, in choosing the presidential flag bearer of the party, for the 2023 elections.

It further stated that “While we admit that this is a strong argument, we should not lose sight of the fact that Nigeria is endowed with many capable and very experienced leaders in every part of the country. Moreover, the exigencies of the moment demand that nothing should be compromised in choosing the leader, with the attributes to disentangle the country from the present quagmire.

Accordingly, the committee seeks the cooperation of every Nigerian from all parts of the country to choose a suitable and qualified candidate through a credible primary election that would soon be organised. The committee also enjoined the party members to support the current electoral reform underway while urging the military to take the back seat. It added that the party should actively support the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on its ongoing reforms for the betterment of the electoral process and make it actually independent.

They call on the government to excuse the military from getting involved in the electoral process saying their presence poses intimidation and question the whole integrity of the process and therefore suggested the police should be made to be more impartial in conducting the process. The PDP report further stated that “The endemic frictions in inter-governmental relations, especially between the states and the federal government, suggest that the present constitutional arrangement is grossly inadequate to contend with changing democratic and demographic challenges.

Therefore they suggested that their party should either pushed for the 2014 constitutional conference or seek for a new one to be organised. The report insisted that the PDP should advocate for genuine restructuring that foster decentralisation, promote national unity that would guarantee the lives and properties of all Nigerians.

The Bala Mohammed committee also in their recommendation suggested to the PDP leadership to promote practice that will deepen democracy promote National unity that will inspire greater faith for all citizens in the country especially those yearning for inclusion. The party also pledged to make the youth and women inclusive as the party progresses, such that a certain number of appointive slots should be exclusively for women and youth.

The recommendation also pointed out that the EndSARS movement has proven that there are ambitious youths who are ready to take the centre stage in the affairs of this country that cannot be ignored. While receiving the report in his keynote address, the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, thanked the committee for a job well done. He said: “The committee was set up to look back and find out how we fared in 2019 and why we got the outcome. Your terms of reference said it all that, ‘to among others identify the remote and immediate causes responsible for the loss of the 2019 presidential election.

Secondus continued, “I have no doubt in my mind that your report will form the bedrock of our party’s plan ahead of 2023 general elections. The NWC is going to study and analyze your report meticulously and come up with a position that will be beneficial to the party. The event at the Wadata Plaza was attended by top party chieftains among whom are; Chief Tom Ikimi, Tanimu Turaki, Adolphus Wabara, Bukola Saraki, Ike Ekweremadu, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Dino Melaye, Stella Omu among others.

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