The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has chosen senior lawyer and former minister Kabiru Turaki as its new national chairman.
The announcement was made during the party’s national convention held on Saturday in Ibadan, where delegates from across Nigeria gathered to ratify new members of the National Working Committee.
Okay News reports that Turaki became the sole contestant for the top office after political negotiations within the party produced a broad consensus in his favour.
Turaki received 1,516 delegate votes, a figure that formally confirmed him as chairman following the withdrawal of Lado Dan Marke, the PDP’s 2023 governorship candidate in Katsina State, who stepped out of the race earlier in the day.
Other national offices were also filled during the convention. While the positions of youth leader and deputy national legal adviser were set aside for further consultation, 17 other national roles were returned unopposed, reflecting months of internal alignment among PDP blocs.
The emergence of Turaki aligns with the party’s zoning decisions earlier in the year. The National Executive Committee (NEC) had assigned the 2027 presidential ticket to the south, making the chairmanship automatically zoned to the north, in line with PDP’s long standing rotational structure.
Turaki’s candidacy had already gained momentum weeks before the convention. Key political figures from the north west had endorsed him as their preferred option during a series of strategy meetings in October.
Among the party heavyweights who backed him were Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed, Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang, Adamawa Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal, and outgoing acting chairman Umar Damagum.
Influential figures such as former Senate President Bukola Saraki, former information minister Jerry Gana, Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro, and former education minister Ibrahim Shekarau were also part of the consultations that cleared the path for Turaki’s emergence.
