Out of the 19 aspirants for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the February 25, 2023 election, there is a plan to prune the figure to at most four for the May 28-29 primary, inside sources in the party say.

The objective is believed to be at the heart of ongoing efforts by the forces behind the push for a consensus option of electing the standard-bearer of the main opposition party and resolve its current quagmire.

Four of the aspirants led by a former president of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, are the leading arrowheads of the option, holding consultations with major stakeholders, among them 11 PDP governors, elders and Board of Trustees (BoT) members, National Assembly caucus and former Nigerian leaders across the country.

A source said the overall mission of the arrowheads is to ensure that the leaders and members of the party unanimously or with an overwhelming majority arrive at a candidate whose nomination could be endorsed, ratified and affirmed by delegates at a convention.

While the PDP is to hold its convention between May 28 and 29, 2022 in Abuja, there are speculations that the All Progressives Congress (APC) plans to conduct a similar exercise on May 30 or thereabouts.

Some influential APC persons, including Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, have been speaking about the likelihood of the party choosing its candidate through consensus that was applied to select Senator Abdullahi Adamu as national chairman recently.

The idea for consensus in the PDP gained traction four weeks ago, when Saraki and the governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, met with his counterpart in Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, on March 20, with the leaders mandating Saraki to brief the press adequately on the objective of the idea to avoid speculations.

According to sources in PDP, the approach was to prove that the promoters are ready to stand by their choice so that the public could hold them accountable for their choice, as well as ensure there was no plan to abandon the idea midway.

A former Managing Director of the African International Bank (AIB), Alhaji Mohammed Hayatoudeen, soon joined the consensus team on their mission to create a common avenue for the aspirants to interface and create a united front preceding the primaries.

A source in the PDP declared “The team has not only been visiting stakeholders in the party to explain the objectives and the benefits of the consensus option, but it has also been encouraging some aspirants in the South to also adopt a similar method of pruning the number of contestants so that not more than three or four aspirants eventually make it to the primary.

“In the beginning, only the three from the North had obtained nomination form. Then, a former vice president and aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had also paid for the form, while only a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, from the South had obtained a nomination form.

“The calculation, therefore, is to ensure that if the aspirants can be reduced to about two or three, the delegates to the PDP convention may just be confronted with choosing between three aspirants.

“The plan is to ensure that the PDP, as an opposition party, does not go into the primary as a fractious entity. The aspirants want to work together toward reducing the number of names that will be on the ballot during the primary. They believe working together from the present stage will create an avenue for working together when the eventual candidate emerges.

“By their calculation, all of the aspirants are qualified to govern the country and provide fresh leadership to the country. The idea is to create a common ground and collaborate as the aspirants pursue their aspiration to lead the country.

“They decided to work together and support whoever emerges among them as the consensus candidate, with the belief that if they work together as a group, nobody can defeat the arrangement at the convention,” he said.

The assumption among the promoters of the option is that this is the best way for the PDP to travel given the state of the nation.

“With the country facing the threat of instability, it should be a national task that all leaders at different levels should be involved in building consensus, building bridges of understanding, and reaching understanding.

“A country that is this divided and where people are receding from nationhood to ethnicity, regionalism, and individuals are doubting whether it is worth the while for them to continue to be Nigerians, requires some special arrangement for sourcing its leadership.

“People feel that the country no longer serves its purpose. Such a country de- serves consensus building as a key assignment for its key stakeholders.

“Also, PDP as an opposition party cannot afford to have a divided platform. It must create a process for evolving the candidate who will be acceptable to other aspirants, the party, and the people.

“The idea of achieving consensus among aspirants also has the benefit of eliminating or reducing tension. It can help the party to create a basis for understanding, cooperation, and goodwill which will ensure that the party comes out stronger and more united.

“The efforts will also help to create a tidier primary in which three or four people are on the ballot instead of having 17 as the number of people that are reported to have purchased nomination and Expression of Interest forms.

“The latter number is un- wieldy and will worsen the situation of the party. “Again, with the ongoing efforts of Saraki, Tambuwal, and Bala Mohammed, a common ground is being created among the aspirants such that when the eventual candidate emerges, he will already be familiar with his fellow aspirants and know how to placate them and rally them in support of his programmes, policies, and projects.

“The consensus arrangement will enable the PDP to emerge stronger and more focused in tackling the APC in the 2023 general election. Surprisingly, the APC itself is talking about forging a consensus plan in selecting its presidential candidate,” he added.

Some sources said the leadership of the PDP and other key stakeholders were excited by the consensus initiative by the trio of Saraki, Tambuwal, and Moham- med, with some stakeholders said to have encouraged the move to stave off trouble and tension ahead of the convention. (Courtesy, excluding headline, Nigerian Tribune)

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