Kabiru Turaki Becomes New PDP National Chairman After Delegate Vote
Kabiru Turaki, once Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, has now taken the helm of the Peoples Democratic Party after delegates confirmed him as the new National Chairman during the party’s national convention in Ibadan on Saturday night. His emergence followed the withdrawal of Katsina’s 2023 governorship candidate, Lado Danmarke, who stepped aside shortly before voting. Despite pulling out, Danmarke’s name remained on the ballot and he still drew 275 votes. Turaki dominated the process with 1,516 votes from the 1,834 ballots counted. Forty-three votes were declared invalid. “It is therefore clear from the votes cast that Taminu Turaki has won the position of National Chairman of the PDP with a total of 1,516 votes.” The election also produced Solarin Sunday Adekunle as Deputy National Organising Secretary after he secured 633 votes. However, the contests for National Youth Leader and Deputy National Legal Adviser were suspended. Seventeen additional positions had no challengers, allowing the nominees to be confirmed without a contest. Out of the 3,131 delegates expected, 2,745 were accredited to participate in the convention. The gathering drew several governors, including Bala Mohammed, Seyi Makinde, Ahmadu Fintiri, Dauda Lawal, and Caleb Mutfwang. Governors Ademola Adeleke, Siminalayi Fubara, and Agbu Kefas were not in attendance. Senior party figures such as Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro, former governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Ibrahim Dankwambo, and Board of Trustees Chairman Senator Adolphus Wabara were also present. Turaki’s rise to the top seat aligns with the PDP’s zoning arrangement, which in August placed the 2027 presidential ticket in the South and the national chairmanship in the North. In the weeks leading up to the convention, influential figures from the North-West rallied behind him as their consensus choice. Those involved in the endorsement included governors from Bauchi, Plateau, Adamawa, and Zamfara, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Information Minister Jerry Gana, Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro, and former Education Minister Ibrahim Shekarau.