There were indications in Abuja on Tuesday of the Peoples Democratic Party being in a dilemma over those to be appointed as members of its Presidential Screening Committee.
THE PUNCH learnt of this just as the PDP delegates in the North-Central and the Federal Capital Territory on Tuesday unanimously adopted President Goodluck Jonathan as their candidate for the 2011 presidential election
It was gathered that members of the party’s National Working Committee, who met in Abuja over the matter on Saturday, could not agree on the modalities to be used in picking the screening committee members.
The timetable released at the end of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja on Thursday, had indicated that the screening of the presidential aspirants would hold on January 11.
A member of the NWC, who spoke with one of our correspondents, said that all the names suggested at the meeting were rejected by the majority of the members.
Among those whose names were rejected were two former chairmen of the party and a prominent politician from the South-East.
The NWC source, who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said that most those suggested had identified with either Jonathan or former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar.
Members of the NWC are to meet again on Wednesday (today) to further deliberate on the issue.
The NWC member said, “We met on Saturday to consider those to be on the committee, but those suggested by my colleagues are either close associates of the President or Abubakar.
“Those who are not their close associates had at one time or the other expressed their support, either for zoning, or against it.
“So, we disagreed on the list and we asked ourselves to go back and think of other names. We hope to reconvene in Abuja on Wednesday to further look at the issue.”
He said the list, when agreed on, would be forwarded to the PDP NEC for ratification.
The party’s guideline says there shall be a PSC “appointed by the NEC on the recommendation of the NWC of the party, whose sole responsibility shall be to screen presidential aspirants.”
The PSC , according to the guideline, shall consist of a chairman, a secretary and eight other members.
The guideline also says each geo-political zone will have a representative in the committee and two women, each from the North and South.
Any aspirant aggrieved by the committee’s decision is free to appeal in writing to the Presidential Screening Appeal Panel within 24 hours from the time of the announcement of the result of the screening.
The appeal panel is expected to consist of 12 members of the NWC, plus six members of the Board of Trustees, one from each zone.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, is to chair the panel.
Efforts to speak with the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Alkali, were unsuccessful as he was said to have travelled to Gombe State, where he is running for the governorship position.
The PDP delegates in the six states in the North-Central and the FCT, however, endorsed Jonathan during a meeting in Lafia, Nasarawa State on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by the President.
A former FCT Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, who moved the motion for the President’s adoption, said it was in line with the yearnings of most Nigerians.
A former Nasarawa State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, seconded the motion.
Adamu said that the North-Central was always at the forefront of democratic struggles at critical periods in the history of the country.
The President, while thanking the delegates for their support, said the PDP had a bright chance of winning the presidential poll if it presented a candidate that would be acceptable to Nigerians.
He said, “The PDP primaries are the elections before the elections and that is why all the political parties are interested in the PDP primaries.
“They know that any person produced by the PDP as a candidate has a brighter chance of winning the main election except we produce a candidate that will be rejected by Nigerians.”
Jonathan promised to move the country forward if elected as president, adding that he would implement the agenda of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
The President said he would focus attention on energy, security, agriculture, power, solid minerals and the economic base of the country.
These, according to him , will enable the country to catch up with other countries like India, Indonesia and Brazil.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have said that the PDP is not in a position to realise the country’s development potential.
Nigerians responded to an opinion poll conducted by the party on its website, which asked: “Which party is better positioned to realise Nigeria’s development potential?”
The poll, which was monitored by our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, showed that 140 respondents had voted.
However, 100 of them, representing 71.4 per cent of the respondents, said that they did not believe in the party.
Only 28 respondents, representing 4.8 per cent, voted in favour of the party.
Six respondents said they had yet to decide, while the same number of people said no political party was capable of achieving anything significant.
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