Checkout Magazine has learnt that stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are considering consensus to pick officials of the party during the Ibadan National Convention in November.
The objective is to avoid a repetition of the conflict and disharmony sparked by the 2022 presidential primaries.
The situation is largely blamed for the party’s loss of the 2023 presidential election and the massive defections of top members ,including two state governors, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Some other notable members of the PDP,including former vice president Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President David Mark have switched to the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC).
Highly placed sources in the PDP said the National Executive Committee (NEC) and state governors elected on the platform of the party have agreed that they should give no room for further frictions if the party must move ahead.
Additionally, the party is also open to having Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike and his supporters fully back in the fold following recent disagreements over some issues.
It was gathered that the PDP Governors Forum has reached out to the Wike camp on giving consideration to some of their demands, although it was not immediately clear how much grounds the party hierarchy is willing to concede for peace to reign.
Sources said the decision of the party to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the south was part of the demands from the Wike camp.
Wike is also demanding formal recognition of his loyalist, Chief Dan Orbih as the South-South Zonal chairman, and derecognition of Chief Ali Odefa from the Southeast as National Vice Chairman.
He had said during a recent media chat that the demands must be met to avoid more crises in the party.
He said: “If they want another round of crisis, so be it. That congress moved that Chief Dan Orbih emerged as the National Vice Chairman South-south of the party. The court allowed it for the congress to hold and the congress was held. The so-called acting National Chairman of the party went and wrote a letter to INEC.
“The congress was held on Saturday the 15th and he went and wrote a letter on the 8th, for example, that the Congress had been postponed. Chief Dan Orbih is the National Vice Chairman of PDP, South-south. If they don’t agree, that is another round of crisis.
“Two, the south-east congress which produced Chief Ali Odefa as the National Vice Chairman cannot stand because the court had affirmed that Odefa is no longer a member of the party.
“That is what I told the people that I cannot allow impunity and will fight it until they correct it; there is time for them to resolve before we talk of convention, if it is not resolved, that is an invitation to a crisis.”
It is understood that more consultations are being held on the various issues.
