Ahead of 2023 general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2019 Elections Review Committee has recommended that the party’s Presidential ticket be thrown open for credible and competent Nigerians.
Chairman of the committee and Governor of Bauchi state, Senator Bala Mohammed who stated this while submitting the committee’s report, Wednesday in Abuja, explained that what makes this assignment special was because they were “saddled with the assignment of unravelling how and why so great an opportunity, to reclaim the Presidency, slipped through the fingers of the party in 2019, has been at once both exciting and challenging. Second, the need to reclaim political leadership of the country has never been more urgent than now.
The Bauchi state governor, who makes a strong argument that Youths and Women be given 35% said “the party should set aside, a certain percentage of elective and appointive offices, for the youth and women. The end SARS movement, a few months back, was the testimony we needed, that a new generation of young, bold, ambitious and detribalized Nigerians have taken centre-stage and that their legitimate clamour for inclusion and good governance can only be ignored to the peril of the party and indeed Nigeria.
He said: “In line with certain unwritten conventions of the nation’s history, many people think that, for fairness and equity, the North East and South-East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, in choosing the presidential flagbearer of the party, for the 2023 elections. While we admit that this is a strong argument, we should not lose sight of the fact that Nigeria is endowed with many capable and very experienced leaders in every part of the country. Moreover, the exigencies of the moment demand that nothing should be compromised in choosing the leader, with the attributes to disentangle the country from the present quagmire.
“Therefore, we think that every Nigerian, from every part of the country, should be given the opportunity to choose the best candidate, through a credible primary election; as a way of institutionalising a merit-based leadership recruitment process, for the country”.
Bauchi State Governor, who urged party members to push for endorsement of the 2014 Constitutional Conference Report and advocate for genuine restructuring that fosters decentralisation, said “the party should actively encourage the current reform by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make it truly independent and to be able to conduct elections devoid of the coercive apparatus of the state, underhand manipulations and outright intimidation of voters.
In his speech, the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, explained that the committee was set up to look back and find out how they fared in 2019 and why they got the outcome.
Secondus said “I have no doubt in my mind that your report will form the bedrock of our party’s plan ahead of 2023 general elections. The NWC is going to study and analyze your report meticulously and come up with a position that will be beneficial to the party.
He added that ” the PDP is putting no stone unturned to ensure it regains federal power and this report is going to be the take-off point and keystone to our subsequent actions ahead of 2023″.
