April 24, 2022

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set to hold its 96th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Wednesday, May 4, even as the party faces imminent implosion over consensus candidates.

The party disclosed this in a notice issued by its National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, in Abuja on Saturday.

He urged all members of the NEC to attend the meeting.

Anyanwu said that the meeting that would start by 2pm would hold at the NEC Hall, PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

The agenda of the meeting was not disclosed, but it is expected that the party would among other things discuss issue of zoning of the presidential ticket, the party’s primary and other issues related to 2023 general elections.

Meanwhile, the reported choice of Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State alongside former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, as the consensus candidates of the north is already brewing bad blood within the party.

A similar schism within the party is brewing in the south after it was reported that a group had endorsed a consensus presidential candidate.

In the north, the Northern PDP Elders Forum led by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, on Friday, endorsed Saraki and Mohammed as the consensus candidates ahead of the 2023 presidential primaries of the party.

The Forum said its decision was based on certain criteria adopted in assessing the four presidential hopeful from the north who presented themselves for the exercise.

This has angered some northern members of the party including Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, who is also one of the candidates. Tambuwal has rejected the endorsement of Saraki and Mohammed as consensus candidates of the region, setting the stage for a major deadbeat within the party.