PDP fixes October for National Convention, zones presidency to North

The National Convention of the PDP has been slated to hold in October, the national leadership of the party has announced. Towards achieving a seamless convention, each state branch of the party has been directed to submit the names of 30 members that would serve on the convention planning committee.

The Niger State chairman of the party, Alhaji Tanko Beji, disclosed this in Minna Thursday while addressing a stakeholders' meeting where the implication of the Supreme Court verdict was also explained.

Beji said the leadership of the party, which met at the national secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court ruling, also took a decision on the zoning of the presidency of the country in 2019 to the Northern part of the country, while the vice-presidency would go to the south.

Beji advised all those with ambitions to seek the mandate of the people to do so, stating that the era of "no vacancy" had come to an end.

“Anyone with ambition to seek political office should go to the people, the leadership will not allow imposition of candidates," he said.

According to Beji, each zone in the state would present 10 of the delegates allocated to Niger State and advised that each of the zones should ensure that the local government areas are represented.

He said the major focus of the party was how to hold a successful national convention and win the national elections in 2019.

“Our common enemy is the APC; we should all join hands to chase out the APC in 2019,”he said.
Referring to the arrest and arraignment of some of the leaders of the party in the state, including himself, Beji added: "We should not be afraid of arrests, we cannot all be arrested, we cannot all die one day.”

Prominent members of the PDP, among them those in the Sheriff group, attended the stakeholders’ meeting.