PDP Presidential Primary: Jonathan has right to contest, but…. – Olawepo-Hashim Group

Says party risks division over ex-President’s ambition

Following the plot to use former President Goodluck Jonathan as a “spoiler” ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary for the 2027 elections, the North West arm of the Gbenga Hashim Vanguard has warned that such a plot may affect the fortunes of the party.

Reacting to reports credited to Senator Abba Moro that the PDP had allegedly shortlisted three Southern aspirants, including Jonathan, as possible flagbearers, the group described the claim as “provincial and dangerous for party unity.”

Speaking in Kano State, the group’s North West Coordinator, Mr Aminu Bala Wudilawa, insisted that only duly elected delegates, in line with the Electoral Act, have the mandate to determine the party’s presidential candidate.

Wudilawa said: “The PDP cannot afford to repeat the mistake of 2015, when former President Jonathan was misled into a provincialist approach that weakened the party and cost us power.”

“The party is not sectional; it belongs to all Nigerians, North and South. Any attempt to reduce the process to ethnic politics will be resisted.”

Wudilawa noted that while Jonathan had every constitutional right to contest, restricting the ticket to the South was a deliberate ploy to edge out competent Northern aspirants such as Dr. Gbenga OlawepohHashim, a founding member of the PDP and its first Deputy National Publicity Secretary.

He described Hashim as a democrat who sacrificed for the return of democracy, a successful entrepreneur, and “one of the cleanest hands in Nigerian politics.”

“Dr. Hashim represents the forward-looking leadership Nigerians desire, not a return to corruption, ineptitude, and provincialism,” the coordinator said.

The group reaffirmed its support for Hashim’s presidential ambition, insisting that Nigerians were yearning for a leader with a firm grasp of economics and national security.

Wudilawa said: “That leader is Dr Gbenga Hashim. No spoiler tactic will be allowed to shut the door against his aspiration.”