Presidential ticket: PDP unveils new plans, speaks on preferred candidate

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has unveiled new plans in its bid to hold a transparent, fair and credible national convention on Sunday.

The party said it hopes to produce an acceptable presidential candidate on Sunday.

According to the main opposition party, the national convention, which will hold in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, on Sunday, would be of an international standard that would be envied by other political parties.

This views were conveyed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbindiyan on Tuesday.

Ologbindiyan spoke with journalists in Abuja, where he stated that the PDP would show to the world that it was democratic in the conduct of its internal affairs.

He said unlike in the past when presidential aspirants were not allowed to nominate agents to represent them during delegates’ elections, the National Working Committee had chosen to broaden their participation by giving them the opportunity to nominate two people each into the accreditation and electoral committees respectively

He said, “Each of the Presidential aspirants will nominate two people into the accreditation committee and another two into the electoral committee.

“This is to ensure that none of the aspirants is left in the dark as to what the party is doing concerning the convention.

“The PDP will publish names of all the delegates and make same available to our Presidential aspirants before the convention. We have nothing to fear or hide on that issue.”

When asked about the quality of a presidential candidate that the party would produce, the PDP mouthpiece said that the party was looking forward to the emergence of a candidate with the capacity to quickly revamp the economy.

He said aim was to bring to an end what he described as “the disastrous stewardship of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress administration.”

He added, “The PDP has no interest in a particular aspirant. We are hopeful that whoever emerges on Saturday will be a man with the economic wizardry to turn around the fortunes of this country.

“The party is out to make sure we have a credible primary election and the process will be clean, transparent and acceptable to the majority of Nigerians.”

On whether the aspirants were forced into accepting Port Harcourt as the host of the convention, Ologbondiyan answered no, adding that members of the National Executive Committee, as well as all Presidential aspirants, unanimously settled for the state.

He added that chairmen of the respective state chapters would introduce their delegates at the convention venue “in the spirit of openness.”

Allaying fears of possible post-convention crisis, Ologbondiyan said should any arise, “the party has its internal conflict resolution mechanisms to deal with such.”