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Nobody’ll take PDP mandate to another party and get away with it — Turaki
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Elections & Politics

Nobody’ll take PDP mandate to another party and get away with it — Turaki

From Vanguard · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Nigeria's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned its candidates against defecting after securing party tickets for the 2027 general election.
  • The party will require candidates to sign undertakings and has confirmed former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate.
  • PDP aims to prevent a repeat of past defections and ensure election victories are not overturned by tribunals.

Nigeria's opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is taking a firm stance against defections, warning candidates that they will not be allowed to switch parties after securing nominations for the 2027 general election. The party announced it will require all candidates to sign undertakings, committing them to remain with the PDP.

Nobody, moving forward, nobody will take our mandate to another political party and get away with it. But before we take your names to INEC, you will sign. You will sign an undertaking. What had happened before will not happen again.

— Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SANChairman of the PDP Interim National Working Committee explaining the new policy on candidate defections.

This move comes as the party presented Certificates of Return to 21 governorship candidates, signaling its readiness for the upcoming elections. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, chairman of the PDP Interim National Working Committee, stated that the party is determined to prevent a recurrence of situations where candidates defect after winning on the PDP platform. "Nobody, moving forward, nobody will take our mandate to another political party and get away with it," Turaki declared.

PDP would not want a situation where for any reason that we win the election and then that victory will be taken out from us at the tribunal.

— Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SANExplaining the party's efforts to minimize legal risks associated with candidates.

The PDP has also confirmed former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate for 2027. The party has completed its nomination process nationwide, fielding 28 governorship candidates, 109 senatorial candidates, 360 House of Representatives candidates, and 993 state assembly candidates. Turaki emphasized that the party has conducted background and security checks on nominees to minimize legal and integrity risks, aiming to avoid losing victories at the tribunal.

We have a presidential candidate who bought the forms, who signed it and we nominated him the other day. And that is the former president, Goodluck Jonathan.

— Hon. Theophilus Dakas ShanNational Organising Secretary of the PDP Interim National Working Committee confirming the presidential candidate.

Despite some candidates still undergoing verification for "significant" issues, the PDP is confident it will contest and win in every constituency in 2027. The party's National Organising Secretary, Hon. Theophilus Dakas Shan, confirmed Jonathan's nomination, highlighting the completion of the process despite a leadership crisis following a Supreme Court judgment.

PDP will contest the election in every constituency where elections will be held in 2027. And it’s not just about contesting, it’s about contesting to win.

— Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SANExpressing the party's confidence and ambition for the 2027 elections.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Vanguard. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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