Amid intense political drama, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki emerged as the new factional national chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the weekend, promising to prioritise the will of the people, listen to their voices, and deliver on their expectations.
Turaki assured party members and Nigerians that the new National Working Committee under his leadership would operate with fairness, transparency, equity, and justice, working diligently to rebuild and reunite the party.
He made the pledge in his acceptance speech shortly after being sworn in at the PDP’s national convention.
Turaki won decisively, polling 1,516 votes to defeat his closest rival, Senator Yakubu Lado, who received 43 votes. Although Senator Lado had earlier withdrawn from the race citing zoning considerations, some of his supporters still cast votes in his favour.
A total of 3,131 delegates participated in the convention held at the Mainbowl of Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan on Saturday, with 275 votes declared void. Before the election, 2,745 delegates were accredited, and total votes cast stood at 1,834.
Turaki, a prominent PDP figure and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had been adopted as the consensus candidate by Northern PDP stakeholders ahead of the convention.
In the race for Deputy National Organising Secretary, Solarin Sunday Adekunle emerged winner, polling 633 votes to defeat Adelabu Malomo (507 votes) and Olabayiwa Ogundipe (417 votes) from a total of 1,577 votes cast.
The oath of allegiance and office was administered by Barrister Musa Abdulwasil at about 11:50 PM.
Expressing gratitude to the delegates, Turaki acknowledged the weight of their trust and assured that the new National Working Committee would work tirelessly to justify their confidence in rebuilding and strengthening the PDP.
The Chairman highlighted the PDP’s rich history, noting that it is the only party that has maintained its name, label, motto, and texture since its inception. This, he attributed to the party’s commitment to the Nigerian people.
While acknowledging the challenges ahead, the Chairman expressed confidence in the party’s ability to rise to the task and promised that guiding principles and models for achieving party goals will be rolled out soon.
In a bid to heal internal wounds, the Chairman extended an invitation to party members who have been aggrieved or have left the party to return, emphasizing that the party needs everyone’s support to rebuild and save Nigeria’s democracy.
The Chairman concluded by thanking the delegates and assuring them that the party will deliver under the new committee’s leadership, ending with a call to action and a commitment to democracy and the people.
Turaki said, “This is the day that the Lord has made for us. On behalf of myself and other members of the newly elected National Working Committee of our party, the People’s Democratic Party, I stand before you today, and indeed, for Nigerians, to thank you so much for putting this confidence in us.
“I assure you, that the confidence you put in us will not be taken for granted. It is a very big and wondrous responsibility that you have trusted in us. For myself and my colleagues, I want to assure you that we shall do whatever it takes to carry out this assignment that has been placed on our shoulders.
“In 1998, INEG registered three political parties. The People’s Democratic Party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), and the All People’s Party. The All People’s Party became ANPP and then got divided into ANPP and CPC and found its way into what is now called APC.
“AD became AC, became ACN, and was submerged in APC. Today, as I talk to you, the only political party that has continued and maintained its name, its label, its motto, its texture, its density, is the People’s Democratic Party. This has been possible only because this is the party for Nigerian people.
“I want to say to you members of PDP, and indeed to you Nigerians outside there, that make no mistake about it, we are returning the party to you, the people. There will be no more impunity, there will be no more suppression of the will of Nigerian people. We shall open our ears wide open to listen to you, to determine what you want.
“And what you want is what we shall give you. Gone are the days when monkey will walk and baboon will eat. If baboon wants to eat, then baboon must be seen to be working like monkey.”
He said further, “Number two, on behalf of myself and my colleagues, I want to assure our teaming members, and indeed you Nigerians outside there, that from this moment on, whatever we do, there is fairness, there is transparency, there is equity, and there is justice. Because he who comes to equity, comes with clean hands. What you have done to us, the trust you have given us, means that you want us also to take it up to the great people.
“And that we shall do. We are not under any illusion that the task that has been placed on us is a simple one. Our party is at crossroads now, but we are up to the task, we are up to the challenge.
“Very soon, we shall be rolling out what our guiding principles will be, and models of lending for achieving the same. And when we do that, we shall be hitting the ground running from day one. But in all this thing, we want to assure our teaming members outside there, those that feel they have been aggrieved, and we don’t care whether those grievances are genuine or not.
“Those that have now engaged in ‘siddon look’, and those who have left the party, again, for whatever reason, we have enough time, we will bring you back. Because the process of rebuilding, re-creating, re-uniting, re-extending this party needs every one of us. So we will ensure that no one is left there.
“We will go around, we will come to you, we will come to your homes, we will come to your cities, we will come to your towns, we will appeal to you to come back. Because the task ahead of us, and that task is saving Nigeria’s democracy. That task is saving Nigeria from imminent precipice.”
He also urged the judiciary to respect the constitution and the principles of stare decisis, cautioning against getting involved in purely political matters.
“We need support and cooperation of every leader in this task. As a very senior member of the bar, let me say this to my constituency. Sometimes the heart bleeds to see the heart of judgement that comes up.
“The most important institution in Nigeria is judicial. We will therefore be urging our judges, just as you are asking Nigerian politicians to respect their rules and respect the provisions of their constitution, we Nigerian politicians will also be pleading with you to respect your rules and respect the principles of stare decisis. We feel that it is not necessary for any judge that has been sworn to uphold the constitution to refuse to be guided by the decisions of the apex court.
“Nigerian judiciary and indeed Nigerian judges have no business getting involved in matters that are exclusively or intrinsically political. Please save the judiciary. Don’t get involved in matters that are purely political.
“Whatever that belongs to God, give it to God. Whatever that belongs to Caesar, give it to Caesar. When we do that, this democracy that a lot of our founding fathers had fought hard, even at great tasks, some of them have lost their lives.
“Please do not either directly or indirectly or whether wittingly or unwittingly put yourselves in a situation where rightly or wrongly it may be assumed again whether correctly or incorrectly that you are part and parcel of the process to truncate Nigerian democracy.
“I want to once again thank our people, our delegates, for reposing this confidence in us. No doubt the task is arduous, but I want to assure you that you have not made a mistake in choosing us and giving this responsibility to us. We will deliver and we are going to deliver by the special grace of God.”
Also, a former deputy national chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja emerge as the party’s national Secretary, unopposed.
Alh. Hamza Akuyan Koshe (Dep. Nat’l Chairman (North)), Dr. Daniel Ambrose W. (Dep. Nat’l Chairman (South)), Arapaja Taofeek Gbola-Oladejo (National Secretary), Ihediwa Richard Nnabugwu (Dep. Nat’l Secretary), Isa Abubakar (National Treasurer), Okechukwu Obiechina Daniel (National Financial Sec) and Hon. Theophilus Daka Shan (National Organising Sec)
Others are: Ini Ememobong Essien (Nat’l Publicity Secretary), Aribisala Adewale Idowu (National Auditor), Bara’u Shafi’i (National Legal Adviser), Ogbu Anthonia Chinenyenwa (National Women’s Leader), Solarin Sunday Adekunle (Dep. National Organising Sec), Farida Umar Hamid (Dep. National Publicity Sec), Aigbokhaevbo Harrison O. (Dep. National Treasurer), Hamsatu Adamu (Dep. Nat. Women Leader), Hon Tina Puna Musa (Dep. National Financial Sec), Usamatu Maharazu (Dep. National Auditor) and Elec-Njaka Chikere (Dep. Nat’l Youth Leader)
According to the Secretary, National Convention Organising Committee, Senator Ben Obi, who announced the list, the position of the National Youth Leader was stepped down.