Though the Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi state Umar Mohammed had said that there would be no fresh governorship primary election in the state, insisting the leadership stands by the one conducted earlier in which Echocho was returned, other PDP governorship aspirants in Kogi State are working toward a consensus candidate for the December governorship election.
Series of negotiations are currently going on in Abuja where about 17 governorship aspirants have agreed to drop their ambitions so as to present one credible candidate who would be the party’s flag bearer in the election.
A source within the party informed that three of such meetings have been held in Abuja in consultations with some top PDP stalwarts in the state, saying the meeting is yielding good results. He said another meeting would be held this week to finalize the issue of the party’s primary which has generated controversy in the state.
He said the issue of the consensus candidate was arrived at by the aspirants so as to reduce the influence of Governor Ibrahim Idris whom they alleged had imposed Alhaji Isah Jibrin Echocho on the party in January.
The crisis within the PDP over the party primary drew the attention of the National Executive Committee of the PDP which organised reconciliation meetings with all the aspirants in the state last week.
But the meeting was deadlocked and was rescheduled for Thursday this week (yesterday) where a pronouncement is expected to be made over the planned primary elections on Sep 22nd.
When contacted, one of the leading governorship aspirants in the state, Alhaji Isah Kutepa denied being part of the meeting where a consensus candidate was reached.
