Northern PDP endorses Tanimu Turaki as consensus candidate for National Chairman

Tanimu Kabiru Turaki, former Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs,has been adopted as the consensus candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North for the position of National Chairman ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for November in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The decision was reached at a meeting of Northern PDP stakeholders, including serving and former governors as well as members of the National Working Committee (NWC), held on Wednesday night in Abuja.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, the Governor of Adamawa State and Chairman of the National Convention Organising Committee, Ahmadu Fintiri, said the gathering was convened to deliberate on the chairmanship position, which the party had zoned to the North.

“We have met this evening to deliberate and take a decision on the office of the Chairman of our great party, the PDP, which was zoned to the North,” Fintiri said. “After wide consultations, we have adopted a consensus candidate to represent the North, and by extension, Nigeria, as the Chairman of the PDP. That gentleman is K.T. Turaki, SAN. This is our decision this evening, and he will be presented at the convention in Ibadan.”

Fintiri, however, noted that any aspirant dissatisfied with the consensus arrangement is free to contest at the convention.

Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is a respected legal practitioner with a distinguished career in constitutional law, election petitions, commercial arbitration, international criminal law, oil and gas, and mergers and acquisitions.

He previously served as Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs and also as Supervising Minister of Labour and Productivity under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

It would be recalled that during its 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Abuja on August 25, the PDP resolved to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South and the position of National Chairman to the North. Northern leaders later micro-zoned the chairmanship slot to the Northwest over the past weekend.

Fintiri added that following extensive consultations among leaders from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, Turaki emerged as the unanimous choice.

“This is a collective decision of the North, representing all 19 states and the FCT, and we look forward to presenting him at the convention in Ibadan,” the Adamawa governor said.