Posted by By JACOB EDI, Abuja on
The committee set up by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to screen its presidential aspirants concluded its work on Wednesday and submitted its report to the leadership of the party.
The committee set up by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to screen its presidential aspirants concluded its work on Wednesday and submitted its report to the leadership of the party.
Daily Sun gathered that some of the big names gunning for the party's presidential ticket may get a shocker as they have been disqualified by the committee from participating in Saturday's national convention of the party. Sources say that those disqualified include aspirants who have made the greatest noise in their campaign for the number one position in the country.
It was learnt that the committee, which rated the aspirants based on the criteria the PDP leadership released on Monday, submitted the report on the screening to the National Chairman, Ahmadu Ali, who took it as well as the list of those cleared and disqualified to the presidential villa for President Olusegun Obasanjo to see before it is made public.
Before he left for Aso Rock Ali refused to give hint of the aspirants who scaled through in the screening. Indeed, apart from members of the screening committee and Ali not even members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP were privy to the recommendations of the committee by Wednesday evening.
Reliable sources, however, hinted that 20 out of the 27 presidential aspirants, who appeared before the screening committee between Monday and Tuesday, were cleared. The party had, in the last one week, made no pretensions about the fact that it will not be comfortable going to convention ground with too many presidential aspirants.
While receiving the screening committee's report by 1.30 pm on Wednesday, Ali had thanked members of the committee and said that the recommendations contained therein would help the party in deciding who will contest the primaries on Saturday.
Pressed to give details or even an insight into the report, Ali said: 'Over 27 people were screened. There are quite a good number of men of integrity and so there is no way some of them will not make it. You can guess and keep guessing. By Saturday, all the speculations will end."
Meanwhile, the national electoral panel of the PDP has been inaugurated. Ali also disclosed that the ballot papers for Saturday's primaries of the party were ready. He stated that the party made provisions for extra ballot papers in case of run-off.
'The whole process will be rig-proof and rancor-free. There will be voting even if only one candidate contests the election. That is what the law says," said Ali.