The political atmosphere in Nigeria’s opposition and ruling parties witnessed major developments on Wednesday, as former Minister of Special Duties under the Goodluck Jonathan administration,
Tanimu Turaki (SAN), emerged as the new National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), even as several top PDP leaders in Zamfara State defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and former presidential aspirant, was chosen through consensus following extensive consultations among PDP leaders across the three northern geo-political zones — the North-West, North-East, and North-Central.
The Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who chaired the party’s stakeholders’ meeting, announced Turaki’s emergence at about 10:45 p.m. on Wednesday after a marathon session held at a private residence in the Maitama district of Abuja.
Fintiri said the decision reflected a broad agreement within the party to strengthen unity and reposition the PDP ahead of future elections. Turaki, who hails from Kebbi State in the North-West, succeeds Ambassador Umar Damagum, who had been serving in an acting capacity.
Among those present at the meeting were: Damagum himself, Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed; Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, and former Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana, among other prominent PDP figures.
However, even as the PDP leadership was working to consolidate at the national level, the party suffered another blow in Zamfara State, where several of its top leaders defected to the APC.
In a statement issued in Gusau by the State APC Publicity Secretary, Yusuf Idris, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Matawalle, formally received no fewer than 15 PDP leaders who crossed over to the ruling party.
The defectors included key PDP officials such as the State Youth Leader Isiyaka Dabo, Zonal Treasurer for Zamfara-West, Nasiru Mohammed-Anka, Organising Secretary for Zamfara-North Junaidu Magaji-Kiyawa, Assistant Organising Secretary for Zamfara-West Hon. Musa Faru, and Zonal Secretary for Zamfara-North, Lawali Shinkafi. Others were Hajiya Rabi Bakura and Hajiya Amina Duniya, both state ex-officio members.
Receiving them, Matawalle commended their “bold and timely” decision, noting that the APC remains the most popular and united political platform in the state and across the country. He assured the defectors of equal treatment and opportunities, while lauding the state party leadership under Tukur Danfulani for its ongoing mobilisation efforts that have strengthened the APC’s grassroots appeal.
Observers see Wednesday’s twin developments — Turaki’s emergence as PDP National Chairman and the wave of defections in Zamfara — as significant indicators of the shifting alignments and political recalibrations ahead of the next general elections.
