2019: PDP BoT to Meet Presidential Aspirants over Consensus Candidate

Senator Walid Jibrin

By John Shiklam in Kaduna

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will meet with all the party’s presidential aspirants to discuss the possibility of agreeing on a consensus candidate for the 2019 elections.

Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, disclosed this at a news conference in Kaduna on Wednesday.

Jibrin also insisted that those who participated in laying siege to the National Assembly on Tuesday must not be allowed to go free.

While advising the presidential aspirant of the PDP to go about their campaigns with decorum and avoid rumours that could scuttle their chances of becoming president, Walid said the BoT was making every effort to bring the aspirants together to discuss.

“Efforts are on ground by BoT to bring all the PDP presidential aspirants together to consider how best they should accept one of them to stand, realising that despite their number, only one person will emerge as a candidate during the primaries and also only one person will emerge as the President of Nigeria” he said.

Jibrin added however, that if the aspirants cannot agree on a consensus candidate, the party will have no choice than to conduct primaries.

He also stressed the need for the party to allow more room for defectors as this, according to him, “will continue to boost the ego of the party”.

“While we do this we will also consider the role played by our old and hardworking existing members who supported the party almost to the point of death.

“No decampee should be pushed away for now. We shall apply conflict management

resolution methodology to enable us remain stronger.

“We must at all cost use sacrifice. In the light of the above, PDP shall never condone campaign of columny against us by the APC as more of their members continue to decamp to PDP and… I assure them that they are all qualified but only one of them will become the President of Nigeria” he said.

He said the BoT will try its best to carry out its function by remaining the conscience of the party always.

Jibrin said: “We have men and women of honour in the BoT that will never sell their conscience ensuring that the best will come out of the presidential aspirant without fear and favour.

“I urge all organs of the party to partner with BoT in this respect. I call on all members of PDP to remain calm and resolute by remaining unshaken with the belief that PDP will take over government at the federal and states with majority of our members in National Assembly and state assemblies”.

Commenting on the siege on the National Assembly by the Department of State Security (DSS) on Tuesday, Jibrin said such undemocratic practice will not move the country forward.

He described the action of the DSS as condemnable and called for appropriate action against the perpetrators.
He commended Vice President Yemi Osibanjo for taking the decision to do away with the DSS Director General and promising to investigate the incident.

Jibrin said the defection of Senate President Bukola Saraki, governors Aminu Tambuwal, Samuel Ortom, Abdulfatai Ahmed, Senator Rabiu Kwakwanso and several other members of the National Assembly to the PDP, with many more on their way out of the APC, should be seen as an act of democracy.

“They should therefore never be condemned but praise them for their boldness for taking a decision on behalf of their numerous supporters.

“The purported resignation of our Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, is also act of democracy.

“Therefore considering the recent action taken by Vice President Osibanjo, the PDP is happy to donate Akpabio to APC through him with great pleasure, as we have many PDP senators to do that job which has been upgraded to majority leader.

“On behalf of the BoT, we wish Akpabio bye-bye and safe journey advising him to learn from history, especially from those that left us and are now returning enmass.”