WHO'S WHO IN PDP

WHO’S WHO IN PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY

In what is known today as the largest political party in the entire black West Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party was formed on July 28, 1998 when leaders of different political associations in the country conveyed at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to bring together all patriotic and like-minded Nigerians into a single formidable political party capable of organizing and making productive the labour and energy of our people. 

The party had a broad membership drawn from traditional chiefs, academics, and businessmen and proved especially popular with the army, as some retired senior officers joined including Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military leader of Nigeria. Under the guidance of Chief Alex Ekwueme, the PDP quickly became the country’s dominant party, although the All People’s Party and the Alliance for Democracy united in an unsuccessful attempt to overtake it. The party which has a broad political base, supports economic deregulation, human rights, and greater funding for health care and education, among other goals.

In the 1999 elections, the PDP won a majority of seats in the legislature and Obasanjo was elected president. In the 2003 elections, the party maintained a legislative majority and Obasanjo was reelected president. The PDP had an unofficial policy of rotating the presidency between candidates from the predominantly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north. In 2007, the party’s candidate was Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a Muslim and the governor of the northern state of Katsina while the vice presidential candidate was Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian and the governor of the southern state of Bayelsa. Yar’Adua was declared the winner of the 2007 presidential election, although international observers strongly condemned the election as being marred by voting irregularities and fraud.

In 2010, power shifted unexpectedly to Jonathan, who assumed the role of acting president in February after Yar’Adua fell ill; he was sworn-in to the presidency following Yar’Adua’s death in May. Jonathan’s announcement in September about his intention to run in the 2011 presidential election generated much controversy leading into the PDP’s presidential primaries held in January 2011. However, his overwhelming victory over his closest challenger, northerner and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, showed that Jonathan had considerable support, even in several of the northern states and in spite of the fact that his candidacy would be a deviation from the party’s unofficial rotation policy. Jonathan was victorious in the country’s 2011 presidential election, which was deemed largely free and fair by international observers.

Within this period of its existence, the Peoples Democratic Party has recorded tremendous achievements. It is worthy to note that certain individual has contributed immensely to the growth and progress of the party and it is incumbent on us to profile these individuals in the Maiden Edition of PDP Today. They include those that have held or still holding leadership position in the Party, founding leaders, elective officers of the Party, etc. Follow the list on the Maiden Edition of PDP TODAY MAGAZINE