PDP ’ll produce president through consensus, says Makinde

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election would be someone that has everybody’s buy-in.

The governor, who stated this yesterday, while receiving leading presidential hopefuls of the party at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, said that the party would ensure the presidential candidate emerges through a consensus arrangement.

Makinde, who received the team of presidential aspirants, including former President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki; Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal; the Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed and foremost economist and banker, Mohammed Hayatudeen, said that stakeholders in the PDP would work hand-in-hand to ensure the consensus option pulls through.

The governor, who pledged to work with the aspirants to ensure that the PDP picks a consensus presidential candidate, appreciated them for coming up with the consensus idea and noted that the party would work together to give Nigeria a president through a process that has “everybody’s buy-in.”

He said: “I want to really thank you my senior colleagues for this visitation. We have discussed behind closed doors the issue of the consensus arrangement. We did it at the last convention of our party, and that was the first time the PDP was able to achieve that by bringing in a national chairman through a consensus arrangement.

“We believe we can do it and we also believe that Nigerians will take this party seriously when they know that we are all working together to give to them a president through a process that has everybody’s buy-in; where there is no rancour among the stakeholders. So, I promise that we will work hand in hand to ensure that this consensus arrangement is successful.

“I have also said that, internally, we will ensure that people understand what we are trying to do. And where there is any iota of doubt or confusion, we will put a mechanism in place where it will get addressed almost immediately as we move along.”

Saraki, who spoke on behalf of the team, said: “We are here to meet with Oyo State governor, who is a key stakeholder of our party. We have come to brief him on the idea of the consensus arrangement that we are trying to put together.

“We have looked at the country today and it is clear that it is only our party, the PDP, that can provide a brighter future for the country. But we think we ourselves must be ready for government in 2023 by uniting and being focused.”