Kabiru Turaki, a former minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, on Monday submitted his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms to contest for the position of national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The submission is part of the preparations for the party’s national convention scheduled for 15 and 16 November 2025 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
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Mr Turaki, an indigene of Kebbi State, is believed to have been endorsed by Northern PDP stakeholders as their consensus candidate.
He submitted his forms at the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC) Secretariat, Legacy House, Abuja and was accompanied by friends and political associates.
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However, Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa State and former minister of foreign affairs, who had also declared interest in the chairmanship race despite the consensus arrangement, was unable to purchase his nomination form.
Mr Lamido arrived at the party’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday to obtain the form but met no officials to attend to him.
His attempt came just hours after the Chairman of the NCOC, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, announced the postponement of the screening exercise for aspirants seeking elective offices ahead of the convention.
The screening, initially scheduled for Tuesday, 28 October, was suspended until further notice.
Visibly displeased, Mr Lamido told journalists that he would seek legal redress if the party failed to sell the nomination form to him before the convention date.
“If I am not able to get the form, I will go to court, simple,” he said.
The opposition PDP, which governed Nigeria from 1999 to 2015, is expected to elect a new national chairperson at the convention.
With the disagreement among aspirants, the contest may likely spill into the courts, even though the chairmanship position has been retained in the North.
During its 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on 25 August at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, the PDP resolved to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, while retaining the position of national chairman for the North.
READ ALSO: Convention: Lamido threatens legal action against PDP over chairmanship interest
Umar Damagun who is the chairperson of the party is from Yobe State, North-east Nigeria.
The zoning decision has received support among party members and leaders, although a few have opposed it, arguing that the presidential ticket should be open to all regions.
The disagreement led a group of party members loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to approach the court to stop the planned national convention.
However, on 9 October, the Federal High Court in Abuja refused to grant an interim injunction restraining the party from holding both its NEC meeting and the convention.
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