Stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are considering consensus to pick officials of the party during the Ibadan National Convention in November, The Nation has learnt.

The objective is to avoid a repetition of the conflict and disharmony sparked by the 2022 presidential primaries.

The situation is largely blamed for the party’s loss of the 2023 presidential election and the massive defections of top members ,including two state governors, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Some other notable members of the PDP,including former vice president Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President David Mark have switched to the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC).

Highly placed sources in the PDP said the National Executive Committee (NEC) and state governors elected on the platform of the party have agreed that they should give no room for further frictions if the party must move ahead.

The party is also open to having Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike and his supporters fully back in the fold following recent disagreements over some issues.

It was gathered that the PDP Governors Forum has reached out to the Wike camp on giving consideration to some of their demands, although It was not immediately clear how much grounds the party hierarchy is willing to concede for peace to reign.

Sources said the decision of the party to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the south was part of the demands from the Wike camp.

Wike is also demanding formal recognition of his loyalist, Chief Dan Orbih as the South-South Zonal chairman, and derecognition of Chief Ali Odefa from the Southeast as National Vice Chairman.

He had said during a recent media chat that the demands must be met to avoid more crises in the party.

He said: “If they want another round of crisis, so be it. That congress moved that Chief Dan Orbih emerged as the National Vice Chairman South-south of the party. The court allowed it for the congress to hold and the congress was held. The so called acting National Chairman of the party went and wrote a letter to INEC.

“The congress was held on Saturday the 15th and he went and wrote a letter on the 8th, for example, that the Congress had been postponed. Chief Dan Orbih is the National Vice Chairman of PDP, South-south. If they don’t agree, that is another round of crisis.

“Two, the south-east congress which produced Chief Ali Odefa as the National Vice Chairman cannot stand because the court had affirmed that Odefa is no longer a member of the party.

“That is what I told the people that I cannot allow impunity and will fight it until they correct it; there is time for them to resolve before we talk of convention, if it is not resolved, that is invitation to crisis.”

It Is understood that more consultations are being held on the various issues.

National Chairman of PDP Ambassador Umar Damagum,and the Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Bala Mohammed have confirmed that zoning the party’s presidential ticket to the south was part of the strategy to recalibrate PDP.

The position of national chairman was conceded to the north in the report of the Governor Douye Diri-led National Zoning Committee.

The next stage in the presidential ticket zoning arrangement is to micro-zone the position to one of the three geo-political zones in the south:Southeast,Southsouth and Southwest.

The three zones are already consulting on how to go about it, according to sources.

No aspirant has publicly declared his interest yet,although some party big wigs like Professor Jerry Gana and Governor Bala Mohammed have said former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Labour Party flag bearer in 2023,Mr.Peter Obi are welcome to the race.

Neither of them has responded to the open invitation yet.

For the position of national chairman, stakeholders across the north and south are currently involved in working towards having one through national consensus.

Zonal Executive Committees’ in the six geo-political zones are said to have commenced negotiations on ‘micro-zoning’ positions to the various state chapters.

According to party sources, each state and zone has been directed to reach a good level of consensus during the November 15-16 national convention.

Sources said the party may go for a relatively young person with drive and commanding leadership presence.

While former Governor of Kaduna state, Ahmed Makarfi who once acted as PDP national Chairman and former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana have been seriously considered, new developments indicate that there is now serious discussions about leaving Makarfi from Kaduna state in the North West to continue as Secretary of the Board of Trustees while a younger party loyalist from the North Central is considered for the chairmanship candidate.

According to a member of PDP NEC who spoke with The Nation in confidence, some stakeholders are considering a three-time member of House of Representatives, Honourable Teejay Yusuf from Kogi state as one of the likely candidates for the position of national chairman.

“What they are saying is that Teejay Yusuf who is under 60 can be a bridge between the north and south as he speaks Hausa and Yoruba fluently; they also say that he has staunchly remained in PDP since 1998 and withstood various storms, including being denied committee chairmanship in the House of Representatives for four years because he seriously toed party lines rather than support a close friend from another party who eventually became speaker of the House.”

When contacted on telephone, Hon Teejay Yusuf told The Nation that because of high regards for the superiority of party interests over individual aspirations, all stakeholders are still busy working on the collective objective of recalibrating PDP.

“Contrary to what many outsiders assume, all party stakeholders will collectively decide and form a consensus in deciding who occupies what position in November; it is not going to be determined by mere personal ambition because we all have a common resolve to rebuild the party and make concessions to one another where necessary,” he said. (The Nation)

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