There are ongoing discussions among stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to appoint former Senate President and Kwara Governor, Bukola Abubakar Saraki, as the next National Chairman of the party.
This comes after the party faced a crisis leading up to the 2023 general elections, which resulted in the formation of the G-5 group.
The group, consisting of Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, worked against the party’s interests in the presidential election.
As part of efforts to bring the party back to relevance, stakeholders believe that Saraki’s influence and reach make him a suitable candidate for the position.
The source said: “Though the critical stakeholders have not informed Saraki or the party of their intentions, some associates of the former Kwara State governor, who were privy to the plan, met on Tuesday in Abuja and moved against the plan.
“They contended that Saraki had brought the party back to life after persuading many former members who had defected to the APC to return to the opposition party. But they regretted that the immediate past leadership of the party had, because of their personal wars and vested interests, destroyed the party completely. They said Saraki should not be brought in to start laboring all over again.”
However, some associates of Saraki have expressed concerns that he should not be burdened with rebuilding the party after the previous leadership’s internal conflicts and personal interests led to its decline.
The PDP has not officially commented on these speculations, and the party is still deliberating on how to address the issues surrounding the G-5 governors.
A decision is expected to be made during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
A source said: “The party is meeting; the National Working Committee (NWC) has met, the Board of Trustees (BoT) has met. A special committee called the Select Committee met penultimate week.
“It is expected that as these segmented organs have met, the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting would be called where a decision on the G-5 governors and other problems bedevilling the party will be taken. But I don’t know when.”
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
