The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is said to have began talks with prominent political leaders from the northern part of the country, including the present Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and former governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwas, all belonging to All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2019 presidential election. Also on the list are former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido and Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State
PDP had recently announced that it would zone its presidential ticket to the north, resulting in the National Working Committee of the party engaging in series of meetings with prominent politicians from the north, especially those who defected from PDP to APC.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, confirmed the secret meetings the leadership of the party had been having with its former members, saying that he was partaking in such meetings, even as he confessed that it would be premature to mention those who were contacted to return to their former party.
But he said the party is only considering those he said have electoral values and had yet to constantly condemn the party and everything it stood for in the past.
“Yes, I can confirm that we have opened discussions with our former members who left us due to misunderstandings and were aggrieved. We are already having meetings with them and I can assure you that the discussions are going to yield positive results.
“But for the fact that some of these gentlemen are holding sensitive positions in the APC and in government, we won’t be able to mention their names.
“They are not happy with the Federal Government and some of its policies and they have decided to team up with us come 2019.”
Punch. [myad]
