A former Governor of Jigawa State, Ambassador Sule Lamido, has disowned the endorsement of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as the “Northern consensus presidential candidates” of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Lamido, in a statement on Friday, said the decision does not represent the position of party members in the region.
He said: “The attention of key stakeholders of the PDP in the northern states is drawn to reports in the media that some northern elders had shortlisted two of our prominent and deserving aspirants as consensus PDP presidential candidates.
“Having widely consulted party leaders across the 19 northern states and FCT, it is hereby stated to our teeming party members and the general public that what was reported in the media is only the personal opinion of those who issued the statement and not the position of the PDP members in the North.
“Discussions are ongoing with all the aspirants in our party with a view to having a national consensus if possible or at least working towards having a smooth, acrimony-free national convention.
“The position of the northern elders is not only injurious to the North, but equally injurious to the northern aspirants.”
A committee set up by former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, led by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, had named Mohammed and Saraki as the preferred candidates.
The committee tasked the two of them to choose who will be the consensus candidate.
