Hours before voting gets underway at the convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the leaders of the party in the South-West have forged a common front with the adoption of Professor Tunde Adeniran as the consensus candidate for the zone.

The decision to present Adeniran, who is a former Ambassador to Germany, was taken at a meeting of the leaders from the zone convened by a former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and held till the early hours of Saturday in Abuja.

A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by Ladoja said: “From consultations with stakeholders from various zones, we gathered that from all zones, the stakeholders who prefer to back the South-West zone for the position suggested that we should prune down the number, if possible, to one person.

“To reciprocate this laudable gestures, meetings of the seven (7) aspirants were held with Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja as the convener on Wednesday 6, Thursday 7, Friday 8 and Saturday 9, December with the sole aim of agreeing on a consensus candidate.

“We all agreed that the chances of one person winning are better than those of seven people who are likely to divide the votes coming to the zone.

“Since then, Mr Jimi Agbaje, Chief Olabode George, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and Mr Olusegun Aderemi have withdrawn from the race.

“Accordingly, I am of the opinion that Professor Tunde Adeniran should become our consensus candidate for the South-West zone.

“I am hereby appealing to all lovers of the South-West zone to support the candidature of Professor Tunde Adeniran to clinch the position of the national chairman of our great party, PDP,” Ladoja said