2027: Wike’s PDP Unveils Onor As Presidential Candidate

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…Pantami Defects To PDP, Clinches Guber Ticket

ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Abdul­rahman Mohammed has unveiled Sen. Sandy Onor as its presidential candi­date to slug it out with Pres­ident Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 election.

Speaking shortly after emerging as the PDP’s presidential candidate through a voice consensus endorsement by delegates from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sen. Onor pledged to prioritise rural develop­ment, tackle poverty and address insecurity if elect­ed president in 2027.

He argued that neglect of grassroots communi­ties has not only remained one of Nigeria’s biggest challenges, but has fueled insecurity in the country.

Onor, who said succes­sive administrations had failed rural Nigerians, where the majority of cit­izens reside, added that if elected, his administration would focus on improving the welfare of ordinary Nigerians, including teach­ers, transport workers, un­employed youths and vul­nerable populations.

He said: “We are in this race to demonstrate that there is still a lot to do for Nigerians. Rural Nigeria, where the majority of our people live, has been ne­glected by successive ad­ministrations.”

The former senator ar­gued that reducing pover­ty in rural communities would significantly im­prove national security and economic stability.

“If I am able to address rural poverty and take our people as seriously as they ought to be taken, Nigeria will move forward,” he added.

Onor stressed the need for what he described as selfless leadership, ac­countability and discipline in governance, insisting that Nigeria’s widespread poverty persists despite abundant resources.

He also highlighted his experience across different levels of government, not­ing that he had served as a local government chair­man, commissioner and senator.

“I’m the only candidate running with experience across the entire trajecto­ry of our political hierar­chy. I know exactly what to do,” he said, adding that his executive and legislative experience places him in a strong position to lead the country.

On insecurity, the PDP candidate maintained that the root cause of violence, banditry and terrorism is economic hardship, par­ticularly in rural commu­nities.

“Insecurity is funda­mentally a function of rural poverty,” he said, ar­guing that gainful employ­ment and economic oppor­tunities for young people would reduce recruitment into criminal activities.

“Let me make it very clear, insecurity is fun­damentally a function of rural poverty, fundamen­tally the product of rural poverty. A lot of our young men and women who leave school get gainfully em­ployed, they will not take to insecurity. If those who have not gone to school are engaged in one form of ar­tisanship or the other, they will not go into recruit­ment, into banditry, and all such things.

“As you do know, what we are having in the North is not religious, fundamen­tally it is economic. I have also made the point that we must reexamine the fund­ing of local governments. There is no territory in this country that is not a local government. The ungoverned spaces exist for the nurturing of this militancy, because a lot of local governments are not funded.

“If local governments are properly funded, a lot of our young men and women will be meaning­fully engaged at that level. Traditional authorities will be properly funded, vigilantes will be properly funded, and there will be no place for the incuba­tion of any form whatso­ever of terrorism against ourselves by ourselves and foreigners. That’s what I believe,” he said.

Onor also called for stronger implementation of local government auton­omy, saying properly fund­ed local councils would help address insecurity by creating jobs, supporting traditional institutions and strengthening local vigilante structures.

“The president was cou­rageous enough to pursue local government autono­my through the Supreme Court, but implementa­tion remains a challenge. I will insist that no gover­nor should tamper with local government funds,” he said.

According to him, ade­quately funded local gov­ernments would reduce un­governed spaces that often become breeding grounds for insecurity.

Earlier in his speech, Chairman of Primary Election Committee, Sen. Samuel Ortom, expressed gratitude to party mem­bers for conducting them­selves according to the law of the party.

The party chairman, Hon. Mohammed Abdul­rahman, said the just con­cluded primary election signals the readiness of the party to win the 2027 general election.

He thanked the members of the Independent Nation­al Electoral Commission (INEC) for making them­selves available across the 36 states and FCT during the state assembly election, the National Assembly, and that of governorship pri­mary election.

He said: “We must appre­ciate you and thank you for discharging your duties ac­cording to the constitution and the law of the National Election Commission.”

Pantami Defects To Wike Faction’s PDP, Clinches Guber Ticket

Meanwhile, the immedi­ate past Minister of Com­munication and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has joined the Nyesom Wike-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and clinched its governor­ship ticket.

He emerged through a voice affirmation during a primary election held on Tuesday in Gombe.

He was declared as the sole aspirant by Hon. Greg­ory Yenlong, the Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel.

Speaking shortly after he was declared as winner, Pantami said he contested for the seat to offer service to people of the state.

He pledged that if elect­ed in 2027, he would govern with fairness and justice.

Pantami is now up against Jamilu Gwamna, the gubernatorial candi­date of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe.

Earlier, Pantami had kicked against the process which produced Gwamna as consensus candidate of the APC.

He had opted for prima­ries but pulled out of the exercise on the eve of the election, alleging lack of transparency.

Days after the primaries of the APC, four guberna­torial aspirants of the PDP raised the alarm that there was an attempt to smuggle Pantami into the PDP gu­bernatorial race.

In a communique issued after an emergency meet­ing Sunday in Gombe, the aspirants, Alhaji Ab­dulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs Mon­ica Kaltho, said the law did not permit a candidate to defect from one political party to another and sub­sequently contest the same election process after votes have already been cast and counted in his favour in an­other party’s primaries.

The aspirants said they welcomed every well-mean­ing individual into the PDP, but strongly object to any attempt to involve a person who already contested pri­maries in another party.

But on Tuesday, PDP stakeholders chose Panta­mi as the right man to fly the party’s flag.