A presidential candidate on the platform of the PPD, Mohamed Hayatu-Deenhas criticized the process that produced former Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed as northern consensus candidates.
Hayatu-Deen’s campaign office, in a statement on Saturday, said the process leading to the duo’s adoption lacked “principles of fairness and transparency.”
Messrs. Saraki and Mohammed were shortlisted on Friday by the Northern Elderly Forum (NEF), following the recommendations of a committee established by the forum.
Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal had previously dismissed the report on the consensus deal as false.
He said that they had unanimously agreed that the consensus agreement was not working, a position that Mr. Hayatu-Deen has further reiterated.
“For the record, we would like to state that the process of coming up with a consensus candidate had broken down. The candidates involved were unable to reach a compromise among themselves, which resulted in the decision of our director, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, and Governor Aminu Tambuwal to discontinue the process.
“The announcement that we witnessed yesterday (Friday) was not based on the principles of fairness and transparency, which we believe should lead the country and the party into the future. The committee constituted by Prof. Ango Abdullahi is completely anonymous and the evaluation criteria are totally subjective.
“It seems to us that this entire farce was designed to achieve a preconceived result,” Hayatu-Deen said in the statement signed by his campaign manager, Lamis Dikko.
The CEO said that his director has decided to seek his presidency independently.
He also expressed the desire of his rector to continue in his steps to achieve a truly democratic process and the electoral victory of the PPD in the next elections.
In all, there are 17 hopefuls vying for the PDP’s presidential ticket ahead of their primary elections scheduled for next month.
Challengers from both North and South include former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Governor of Anambra, P 17 hopefuls push themselves, Pius Anyim, Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, former Governor of Ekiti, Ayo Fayose, renowned pharmacist , Sam Ohuabunwa, and Ovation magazine editor Dele Momodu.
Although the PPD has set May 28 and 29 to elect its presidential candidate, the party has yet to zone the position to any section of the country.
The party has also not commented on the mode of primaries to adopt to elect its candidate for the presidential elections in February 2023.