REPORT OF CONSENSUS EFFORTS AMONG FOUR NORTHERN ASPIRANTS IN THE
PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP)
It should be recalled that four major presidential aspirants in the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) have met and decided to limit the number of aspirants
from Northern Nigeria by forming a consensus among themselves.
The candidates that presented themselves for the consensus are:
1. Gov Aminu Waziri Tambuwal
2. Gov Bala Mohammed
3. Dr Bukola Saraki
4. Mohammed Hayatu-deen
This was indeed a commendable development and huge sacrifice for the love of
country and the northern region in particular on the part of the four aspirants.
Consequently all the four aspirants visited the former military president, Gen
Ibrahim Babangida and gave him the mandate to lead the process for a consensus
and agreed to abide by the outcome of the decision. The former president
encouraged the aspirants to have a resolve within themselves and come up with
one candidate, which they reported back to him after some days and asked him to
go ahead and pick one out of the four.
General Babangida on his part opted for inclusion, through wider consultation and
assigned me to design a criteria and carry out the necessary consultations with
elders and leaders across the three geopolitical zones of the North. The process
was conducted in the following three stages.
PHASE 1
CANDIDATES ASSESSMENT
In the first phase, the opinions of six distinguished persons each from the three
geopolitical zones were sought with regards to each of the four aspirants. Each of
the Zonal delegates were allocated two votes to choose the first and second choice
making a total of 36 votes overall. The outcome of that consultation was as follows:
• 7 votes for candidate (A) Aminu Waziri
• 10 votes for candidate (B) Bala Muhd
• 10 votes for candidate (C) A-B Saraki
• 5 votes for candidate (D) M Hayatu-deen
One of the elders deferred his votes on grounds of continuing consultations with
traditional rulers and other major stakeholders.
Two members did not cast their second ballots bringing the total to 32 votes casted
out of 36
PHASE 2
ZONAL ASSESSMENT
The next phase involved opinion based on regions which was concluded as follows:
a. North Central – (Eight)
b. North East- (Seven)
c. North West – (Two)
One is still under consultation
PHASE 3
PDP PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES
In the end, resort was made to the historical antecedents of the PDP with regards
to previous northern aspirations and the following conclusion was reached:
a. That the North West has had the opportunity of contesting and even forming
government in 2007.
b. In 2011 a consensus was made among the four northern candidates, Which
North East got the slot but lost at the primaries. In 2019, it got the slot again though
the party could not form the government.
c. The North Central has not had a single opportunity to get the PDP ticket since
the inception of the current Fourth Republic.
RECOMMENDATION
Below is the recommendation I submitted to Gen Ibrahim Babangida which he
endorsed and approved based on the exercise carried out above and the findings
made:
a.. It was resolved that a leading aspirant from the North Central and one from the
North East are to be presented as northern presidential candidates.
b.. The two would in turn be required to make further concessions so that in the
end one of them would be presented as the consensus candidate, out of the four
that presented themselves from the North.
FINAL NOTE
While thanking the aspirants and President Ibrahim Babangida for entrusting us
with the conduct of this exercise and in the hope that all parties involved would
continue with mutual consultations aimed at the overall success of the party, we
hereby present the following conclusion as presented to and Endorsed by Gen
Babangida.
For the purpose of this exercise, it is hereby resolved that Gov Bala Mohammad
from the North East and former Senate President Bukola Saraki from the North
Central be presented as the northern Consensus Candidates for the moment.
The successful aspirants are, hereby, urged to work together to make allowance for
further consultations to foster understanding among themselves, and the PDP
community to ensure a rancour-free primaries in which all eligible candidates would be free to exercise their right.
We sincerely commend the sportsmanship and Statesmanship exhibited
throughout the exercise by all those involved and urge continuous cooperation and team work to ensure victory for the party.
Prof. Ango Abdullahi CON
Magajin Rafin Zazzau
