Posted by By JACOB EDI, Abuja on
Ahead of Saturday's national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), governors on the party's plantform will on Wednesday hold a crucial meeting in Abuja.
Ahead of Saturday's national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), governors on the party's plantform will on Wednesday hold a crucial meeting in Abuja.
Daily Sun learnt that Wednesday's meeting will adopt one out of the serving governors as concensus candidate to vie for the party's ticket.
The party had two weeks ago summoned all the presidential aspirants to a meeting and asked them to prune down the number of people planning to fly the party's flag before the convention.
Relying on a document before him, PDP national chairman, Amadu Ali, made a veiled reference to the fact that the party will be more comfortable with having one of the serving governors in the presidential race succeed out-going President Obasanjo.
Daily Sun gathered that in Wednesday's meeting, PDP governors will pick one out of seven governors who have been shortlisted by a committee headed by Governor Segun Agagu.
Those selected by the panel include Abdullahi Adamu, Donald Duke, Victor Attah, Peter Odili, Mohammed Makarfi, Adamu Muazu and Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
It was gathered at the weekend that some northern emirs have tried to broker peace among the northern aspirants, with a view to maintaining one house before the convention.
Last week, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, Governor Adamu and Governor Yar'Adua met at Minna, Niger State capital. An enlarged meeting of Nothern power brokers will hold before the Wednesday meeting of the governors. The essence of the meeting is to get the Nasarawa governor to step down for the Katsina governor since it is becoming obvious that Babangida will not run on the platform of PDP.
PDP national secretary, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, had told reporters that he was hopeful the party will find a way round the issue of pruning down the number of aspirants before Saturday's convention. It was gathered that the postponement of the screening of the presidential aspirants was to give more room for the aspirants to find a way of stepping down for one another before Saturday.
As at the time of this report, several meetings and consultations were going on at different levels among different interest groups in Abuja.
Governor Bukola Saraki who confirmed that the Agagu Committee shortlisted names of serving governors in the presidential race to the party leadership, however, said the decision of the committee is not to foreclose further consultations on how the party's flag bearer will emerge at the convention on Saturday.