Osun 2018: PDP screens 11, demands consensus candidate

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged 11 aspirants for its governorship to deliberate amongst themselves and by consensus select the most capable and likely candidate that would win the September 22 gubernatorial election.
Though the governorship primary has been scheduled for July 17, the party said the 11 aspirants that have been screened have what it takes to the return the PDP to the Government House but insisted that to ensure a rancour free exercise it has appealed to them to do the selection themselves.
The party Deputy National Secretary, Engr Agbo Emmanuela, who is a member of the party screening committee, stated this yesterday during a meeting with the aspirants at the party headquarters in Abuja.
The party warned that it won’t compromise its standards noting that the contest beginnaing from the election of the three-man delegate and to the state congress that would produce one flag bearer for the party.
He urged all aspirants to engage in meaningful discussion, adding that “if you are unable to harmonize, the leadership of the party will not fail in organizing a free and fair primary election, just as we did in Ekiti.
“When we were going to Ekiti, maybe because we have a sitting governor people thought we will bend the roles, but we stood our grounds and organized the best primary election in recent time”, he said.
Also, Engr Emmanuel assured it would do the needful to win Osun state and therefore would organize a hitch free primary that would not be favour any particular individual.
“Instead of the about 300,000 members of PDP in Osun state to decide who becomes the party’s candidate,11 of you should go and decide who becomes the party’s candidate, because we are sure that from the 11 of you here today one of you is the next governor of Osun state.
“All we want is sincerity of purpose, honour whatever agreement you go into, show capacity to honour every agreement to the later.
No one is an anointed candidate of the party, if there is any we won’t have called for this meeting.
“No anointed candidate, remember five delegates already for many years back have been confirmed to be automatic delegates to the congress.
In the instance they are the Chairman, Deputy, Secretary, Youth leader, Woman leader.
Do we have a hand in it? He said the party is ready to win Osun state in order to rescue Nigerians from the challenges this government has imposed on them, urging Osun electorate support the party’s quest to rescue Nigeria, February next year.