Turaki-led PDP ratifies Jonathan as presidential candidate in absentia

The Tanimu Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday ratified former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate for the 2027 polls amid a tense atmosphere in the Garki area of Abuja.

It said his candidacy was ratified following the general acceptance and support Jonathan received across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

However, the former president was conspicuously absent at the ceremony.

His certificate of return was presented to a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Fred Agbedi, to be delivered to the former president.

The motion to ratify Jonathan for the job was moved by the Chairman of the Forum of PDP State Chairmen, Dr Dr Tony Aziegbemi. He was seconded by a former Minister for Aviation, Sanusi Dagash.

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Aziegbemi, while moving the motion had said that the party, having conducted its primaries across the states, arrived at a collective decision to ratify the former president as the sole candidate to contest the presidential election in 2027.

“The PDP, having conducted free and credible primary elections in the 36 states, hereby at this special convention, adopts Jonathan as the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election”, he stated.

The convention was originally scheduled to be held at the A Class Event Centre in Maitama, Abuja, but the venue was condoned off by the police and other security operatives as early as 5am on Saturday.

While the police prevented access to the venue, the Chairman of the Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the PDP, Tanimu Turaki, led party faithful to a premises in the Garki Area 10 where the ratification of Jonathan was done

Some PDP bigwigs, including the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adulphus Wabara, Professor Jerry Gana and the party’s Oyo State governorship candidate, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, were present.

The convention was held amid threats by the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, to revoke the land titles of any event centre or hotel in Abuja that allowed political parties not recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to host events in its premises

Only on Wednesday, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP chaired by Honourable Abdulrahman Mohammed had also at a separate convention, affirmed a former Senator, Sandy Ojang Onor, as the party’s 2027 presidential election.

The NWC also on Friday dissociated itself from Saturday’s convention where Jonathan was ratified by the Turaki-led INWC, saying that the party had long concluded its primaries and settled for a presidential candidate in line with the guidelines of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The NWC, in reacting to the plan through the National Publicity Secretary, Honourable Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, called on party faithful and Nigerians at large to ignore the Turaki-led INWC.

It particularly urged Jonathan to speak up on the matter by publicly disowning the camp and the continued use of his name.

“The Party wishes to categorically state that no such convention, meeting, or process has been scheduled, approved, or endorsed by the leadership or any recognised organ of the Peoples Democratic Party.

“We therefore urge all party faithful, supporters, stakeholders, and members of the general public to disregard such false information, as it is misleading, unauthorised, and intended to create confusion within the polity”, the NWC stated.

“In view of this development, we respectfully call on former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to publicly dissociate himself from this charade in order to protect the integrity of the democratic process and preserve the credibility he earned while serving the nation.”

Observers say the former president’s taciturn disposition has not helped matters, just as his aides and associates keep mum over the issue.

Our correspondent learnt that there was no public record where Jonathan either expressed his interest or bought nomination forms to contest the 2027 polls.

The former president also did not submit any forms publicly or appeared for screening before the committee appointed by the INWC to screen aspirants for the 2027 elections.

But, on the scheduled day for the screening on May 19, even though Jonathan did not appear, a member of the committee and former governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, announced that Jonathan had been granted a waiver as the sole presidential candidate of the PDP.

He said, “The party had already given our presidential aspirant the waiver.

“Like I said in the beginning, he was deputy governor; became governor, became vice president, became president.

“So, we didn’t see anything that needed screening and therefore the party had given him a waiver. In other words, he had been declared and cleared as the candidate of the PDP for the presidential election and that is president Jonathan.”

On Saturday, the INWC went ahead to ratify Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate in absentia.

INEC continues to recognise the Mohammed-led NWC on its portal following judicial interventions in the lingering PDP leadership crisis, including the April 30 Supreme Court judgment.

While the judgment was thought to have laid the crisis to rest, the PDP has continued to function as two different arms with each insisting legitimacy belongs to it, while at the same time saying there is only one PDP.

Meanwhile, Turaki and members of the INWC narrowedly escaped being attacked by suspected political thugs who suddenly arrived at the junction leading to the A Class Event Centre in Maitama to disperse supporters. The stick-wielding suspects arrived in a Hilux bus, chased people away and snatched valuable items, including handsets and jewellery.

Turaki, after concluding the ceremony at the Garki area, went to the A Class Event Centre, where he met the junction leading to the venue barricaded by the police. However, he made a speech standing, and had barely rounded off and headed for his vehicle when the attackers stormed the place.

Speaking, Turaki said Nigeria was bigger than any individual or a group of individuals as he advised his supporters not to fight anyone.

“No matter how highly opinionated they may be about themselves, or no matter how they think that they can use their positions to thwart democracy, we want to tell them that Nigeria is bigger than anybody and any group of persons,” he stated.

“We will not fight. The time of fighting will come when we meet at the polls. We will meet you there, we will fight you there; we will defeat you there, and then we will pin you down on the ground. I want to thank our leaders.”

A former National Secretary of the PDP, Professor Jerry Gana, called on INEC to be truly independent by always doing the right thing in order to sustain democracy.

Gana recalled the several battles fought by Nigerians during the military era so that INEC would be independent but regretted that today’s INEC appeared to be retarding progress.

“The first thing we were insisting on was that we were not going to be part of the transition programme (of the military) unless the Electoral Commission became the independent National Electoral Commission. Unfortunately, after so many years of development, is INEC now independent? No!”, he said.

“That’s how the name, you remember, most of you remember, that before we had the National Electoral Commission. We were the ones who said, no, no, we have to have an independent National Electoral Commission. And believe me, for a number of years, at least when the PDP was in power, INEC did their best to be independent.”

According to Gana, the electoral umpire is today in what he called “a mess” that must be reformed for the interest of democracy.

“We were supposed to be having a special convention in a very, very well-organised place. Now, the police have taken over the whole area. Are we back into military rule?” he added.