With the North Central expected to produce the next substantive national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a group within it has begun the process of drafting the Nasarawa State gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 election, David Ombugadu, into the race.
The party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meets in the next week to decide the fate of Ambassador Iliya Damagun, who has been the acting national chairman since the resignation of Dr Iyorchia Ayu over a year ago.
The group, which goes by the name the PDP Frontliners, said in a statement on Wednesday that Ombugadu is in the best position lead the main opposition party in the move to reposition it.
The group disclosed that some concerned stakeholders have begun serious consultations towards making Ombugadu’s candidacy a reality, adding that the former gubernatorial candidate is being drafted into the chairmanship race as a consensus candidate at both the North-Central geo-political zone and national level.
Signed by Alhaji Hussein Mohammed, Mr Moses Abidemi and Mr Dan Okafor, the group’s president, secretary and publicity secretary, respectively, the statement added: “PDP’s renewal of commitment to party values and the actualization of a much-sought repositioning can be more ably actualized by David Ombugadu whose vibrant mobilization in Nasarawa state has given PDP the needed vibrancy and representation that includes nine seats in the state House of Assembly, leaving APC with ten and other parties with five,”
The group pointed out that in record time, Ombugadu who only narrowly lost the governorship election in Nasarawa State, united PDP forces on the ground to secure the position of Deputy Speaker in the state House of Assembly along with a senatorial position despite the huge resources and power of incumbency utilized by the ruling APC.
According to the group, for PDP to move forward, it would be extremely necessary to shift focus beyond the struggle for dominance by intra-party camps and coalesce energies and capacities towards strategic repositioning that would lay the ground for PDP victory in 2027.
The PDP group added: “With Hon Ombugadu, we have someone who has actively demonstrated the capacity to work with and inspire people of divergent roots and religious affiliations towards achieving maximum political impact in record time.
“As the entire leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) prepares for the party’s most crucial meetings and decisions since the 2023 general elections, various analyses undertaken by the PDP Frontliners’ research teams indicate that Ombugadu’s entry will gain rapid and effective support across various geo-political zones; we have started work, and we are more than sure of achieving a win-win dividend for all PDP stakeholders’ interests.
“The PDP National Caucus is scheduled to meet in Abuja on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, while the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and the Board of Trustees (BOT) will take their own turn to meet the following day; we look forward to the celebration of a new dawn under Ombugadu’s leadership in a matter of days.
“Certainly, David Ombugadu is the best option for the PDP’s vibrant repositioning and restoration of values and our initial contacts within various contending camps already indicate that we are on the way towards achieving effective consensus.”
