Adolphus Wabara appointed interim chair of PDP board of trustees as party seeks ethnic balance

FORMER senate president Senator Adolphus Wabara has been named acting chairman of the  Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) board of trustees following the resignation of the incumbent Walid Jibrin earlier today.

Over recent seeks, the PDP has been in turmoil as the fallout from its presidential primaries continue to tear the party apart. In late June at its annual convention in Abuja, the PDP, elected former vice president Alhaji Abubakar as its flagbearer for next year's presidential election.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State was a candidate in that election but he was beaten into second place and to make matters worse for him, he was not then picked as the party's running mate. With Alhaji Abubakar opting to pick Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate, Governor Wike has been on the war path and there are now fears that he will dump the PDP.

Among other things, he has been fraternizing with members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)  lately, amid talk of him possibly decamping. Over the last fortnight, there have been a series of meetings in London to resolve the crisis, with Atiku flying to the UK to meet with Governor Wike in person.

In what appears to be an attempt to help break the logjam, Senator Wabara has taken over from Mr Jibrin and also been named the political adviser of the party's national chairman. Iyorchia Ayu. Also, Senator Wabara, who was before now, the secretary of the PDP's board of trustees, will also now be appointed to the party's presidential campaign council.

One party source said the decision was taken a few moments ago at the board of trustees meeting in Abuja. He added that the Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, will also shortly resign as the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.

According to the party source, the decisions were made to ensure the party’s presidential candidate emerged victorious in the 2023 elections. Mr Jibrin said he was sure he would be considered for a bigger position if Atiku Abubakar wins.

He added: “I took this decision based on what I said in the past. I said that all we want to make sure of is that Atiku Abubakar becomes the president by all means and that is why I sincerely decided to step down from the board of trustees.

"I discussed this with the candidate and he agreed with me. I am sure if the party wins, I will be given a bigger position.”

It appears that the PDP has decided to reduce the number of northerners in key party positions to appease party members from the south. One of the main grievances of the Wike camp is that party chairman and the presidential candidate both come from northern Nigeria.