PDP CONVENTION: Two Former Senate Helmsmen Aim Big

Two former Senate Presidents, Da­vid Mark and Bukola Saraki, have declined interest in contesting for the national chairmanship posi­tion of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the party’s national convention draws near.

While Mark is hoping to suc­ceed Senator Walid Jibrin as the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Saraki is said to have his eyes firmly set on becom­ing the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general elec­tions.

The zoning committee of the party, headed by the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, had last week zoned the position of the national chairman to the North.

Ugwuanyi had announced that the National Working Committee (NWC) positions currently being held by party members across the country would be swapped be­tween the North and South.

Though unannounced, stakeholders in the party were said to have micro-zoned the national chairmanship position to the North-Central region.

Although Mark was being promoted by PDP Governors who saw him as a stabiliser with the much-needed experience to manage the party’s affairs, he was reported to have  declined the offer.

“David Mark is not interested in the chairmanship of the party. What he wants is the position of BoT chairman. He has seen it that the North-Central has produced five national chairmen in the past – Solomon Lar, Barnabas Gemade, Ahmadu Alli, Kawu Baraje, and Audu Ogbe.

“The North Easth as produced Bamanga Tukur and North-West has only produced Acting Chair­man, Mohammed Haliru Bello. The South-East has also produced two National Chairmen in Chief Vincent Ogbulafor and Okwesil­ieze Nwodo.

“Even, both Haliru Bello and Makarfi who came from North- West served in acting capacities.

“Also, Mark and the North pre­fer a Northern Muslim so that the South can produce a Christian as National Secretary. Once you take a Northern Christian as chairman, then you have restricted the national secretary who must be a Muslim to only one zone in the South,” a credible source close to the former Senate President said

Also, it was gathered that Sara­ki, who served as chairman of the PDP National Reconciliation Committee, is also not interested in becoming the national chairman and has politely declined the offer.

While some Governors in the party, who wanted a former Governor to become the national chairman were pushing for Saraki, the former two-term Governor of Kwara was said to be focused on a bigger, national project in 2023.