PDP convention: Ex-minister, Taminu Turaki emerges Northern consensus candidate for chairmanship

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Former Minister of Special Duties, under the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, and erstwhile presidential aspirant, Alhaji Kabiru Taminu Turaki, SAN, has been endorsed as the North’s consensus candidate for the national chairmanship of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
This was announced on Wednesday night at the end of a crucial meeting of the northern elders and stakeholders held in Abuja.
The announcement was made by the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who also serves as Chairman of the PDP National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC).
Fintiri revealed that Turaki emerged after an extensive consultations with leaders from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He added that the decision reflects the zone’s collective resolve to strengthen party unity ahead of the convention.
According to him, “We have met this evening (Wednesday’s) to deliberate and take a decision on the office of the Chairman of our great party, which was zoned to the North.
)“In our consultations, we reflected deeply and resolved to adopt a consensus candidate to represent the North, and by extension, Nigeria, as the National Chairman of the PDP.
“That gentleman is K.T. Turaki, SAN. This is our decision, and we are presenting him at the convention for that position as our chairman to represent our part on the 15 and 16 of November in Ibadan”, he added.
The Adamawa State Governor added, quickly, that the decision does not prevent any other interested party in the office from contesting.
The process, he pointed out, remains open to any aspirant who wishes to contest, stressing that consensus was reached purely in the spirit of unity.
“Anybody who feels the need to contest is free to do so. The door is open. Ours is a democratic party, and we are not excluding anyone,” he said.
Responding to a question on that fact that some members of the party are still not in line with this consensus agreement, Fintiri said, “I will not want to preclude what others are speculating outside, but we are gentlemen, and you can see all of us, we are leaders.
‘And we represent each of the states in the north, the 19 states, including Abuja, the FCT. And this is our decision, and we expect this is the lineup of our delegates in Ibadan”
Continuing , he said, “Of course, PDP is an institution, and we have mechanism to handle all these issues. And we’ll reach out and we’ll talk to each other.
“We’ve been talking to ourselves, not today, not yesterday. This is a build-up of consensus in the last two weeks, and we have just a consultation, and this is just the result. And I’m assuring you that the convention will be a rancour free convention”, he stressed.
Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and prominent legal scholar, is widely respected for his expertise in constitutional law, election petition litigation, international arbitration, and commercial practice.
His emergence was sequel to the PDP’s decision at its 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja on August 25 to zone the 2027 presidential ticket to the South and the National Chairmanship to the North.
In attendance at the Wednesday’s meeting were prominent party figures, including Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal, Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Minister of Information Professor Jerry Gana, and Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro.