Ahead of tomorrow’s national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), two former Heads of State General Ibrahim Babangida and President Goodluck Jonathan, have begun prevailing on the leadership to concede the position of national chairman to the South-West, based on the political grouping’s Port Harcourt agreement and zoning principle.
The South-South, until yesterday, was yet to show any sign it would compromise. The former acting national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, who is also in the race and believed to have the backing of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and others, is still canvassing support.
A meeting by South-West stakeholders on Wednesday, which continued till yesterday, indicated the zone could reach a truce and prune down its six national chairmanship aspirants to two.
A source privy to the meeting disclosed that erstwhile military president, Babangida, and Jonathan intervened at the Wednesday session where two of the aspirants, Jimi Agbaje and Prof. Taoheed Ladoja, were said to have agreed to stand down, while former governors of Ogun and Oyo states, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja, were yet to decide.
The insinuation was that former deputy national chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, had also reached out to former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, expressing his solidarity and support for the latter, if the calculation does not favour him (George).
In another twist, a group within the PDP, Yoruba Youth Vanguard, appealed to Adeniran and other Southwest contestants to stand down for George, to boost the chance of the zone in getting the position.
In a statement yesterday, the group’s chairman, Comrade Segun Adigun, said the appeal became necessary following alleged withdrawal by Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, leaving Secondus as the only aspirant from the South-South.
It said with this development, the battle for the chairmanship of the PDP was a straight fight between Secondus and George.
According to the group, “other aspirants from the Southwest should not spoil the chance of George but should step down for him to emerge as the national chairman, a position that has not been occupied by any Yoruba man since 1999.”
