• 2023: Atiku, Saraki, Tambuwal, two others jostle for PDP presidential ticket
- With the October 30-31 date fixed for the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), no fewer than five persons are currently making consultations in preparation to fly the party’s Presidential ticket in the 2023 election.
The PDP at the end of its 92nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting last week approved October 31 to elect national executive members as the tenure of incumbent chairman, Uche Secondus, gradually inches to an end. Nominations to the various committees of the convention are expected to be submitted on September 9 for ratification by NEC
It was reliably gathered that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed, immediate past Senate President, Bukola Saraki and a former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Tanimu Turaki, have set their eyes to vie for the sole ticket of the party.
Their decision to contest for the party’s ticket may not be unconnected with the rumoured decision of PDP to keep faith with the North in the 2023 polls.
Buoyed by his last outing, Atiku who had travelled the length and breadth of the country in the past two years, building bridges of friendship, sees 2023 as his last chance to realize his dream of governing Nigeria as an elected President.
Like Atiku, Tambuwal who finished second on the log in 2018 Presidential primaries is aiming to go again. As chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Sokoto State Governor has in the past three years visited the six geo-political zones as well as top leaders of the country, including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida.
Tambuwal is not the only governor credited with ambition to go for the sole ticket, as his Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Mohammed is said to be in the race as well.
Another contender is Bukola Saraki whose 2023 Presidential posters were pasted at designated areas of the nation’s capital a few months ago. Although the former Senate President was quick to dismiss them, he has continued to make significant inroads into the nation’s political cum geographical zones, particularly after his appointment as the chairman of the PDP’s reconciliation and strategy committee.
It is also gathered that Tanimu Turaki is equally eyeing the ticket as he did in 2018.
