Ahead of the 2023 general elections, 788 delegates have been accredited Wednesday evening to vote in the People Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary elections in Kaduna state.
The PDP gubernatorial primary, which is scheduled for the Ahmadu Bello Stadium Gymnasium Hall Kaduna Wednesday night will pick a candidate out of the six aspirants jostling for the party’s ticket.
The immediate past governor of Kaduna state, Alhaji Mukthar Ramalan Yero, who won the PDP primary before losing to Governor Nasir el-Rufai in 2015 leads the list of aspirants.
There is also Rt. Hon. Isah Mohammed Ashiru who was the party’s candidate in 2019 before losing to the incumbent. Comrade Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central senatorial zone 2015 to 2019, before losing to Sen. Una Sani is also aspiring for the PDP ticket.
Former Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Hon. Mohammed Sani Sidi, former accountant general of Kaduna state and gubernatorial candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Alhaji Saeed Haruna Kajuru and Barr. Mohammed Sani Abbas are the other aspirant. Sen. Datti Baba Ahmed dropped out of the race after submitting his letter of resignation to the state PDP Chairman on Tuesday.
Speaking on why the primary was delayed to start in the night, PDP Chairman Kaduna state, Chief Felix Hassan Hyet said the gubernatorial primary is a process which started with accreditation before the actual voting, adding that the process had to be followed logically and transparently to ensure that it follows the law of the land and the party’s constitution.
He said there are 788 delegates from the 23 local governments in Kaduna state for the PDP guber primary and the delegates were accredited at a different location from where they would move to where the voting would take place and that all the aspirants have their agents at the point of accreditation to ensure that they all approve of the process and the outcome.
“The delay in starting the primary is to ensure that everything is done properly. Accreditation is done at a different location from there the delegates would move down to the stadium for the election,” he said.
Speaking on those that are likely to lose out of the primary, Hyet said, “it is an election only one person would win but as the father we would call the aspirants together sit down with the winner and those that did not win to see how we can work together for the progress of the party.
“I received the letter of Datti Baba Ahmed stepping down from the primary election yesterday (Tuesday) and I minuted on it and passed it to the appropriate quarter but due to the National Assembly primary elections yesterday I could not speak with him. After today’s governorship primary I would speak with him to know why he took that decision. But he decided to contest and if he decided not to contest it is still his decision.”
