The National Executive
Council meeting of the
People's Democratic Party
(PDP) was moved to 2pm
today, to avoid a clash with
the declaration ceremony of
Ibrahim Babangida in Abuja.
The meeting had originally
been slated for 12pm, which
would have dampened the
focus on Mr Babangida's
rally. However, it appears
that last ditch talks enabled
the meeting to be moved to a
later time.
The ceremony itself lasted a
little over two hours, with a
crowd of thousands in
attendance. Mr Babangida
arrived a little after 11am in
an open-top motorcade,
amidst great fanfare and
jubilation. When he
eventually took his place on
the podium, he was joined by
former Senate President, Ken
Nnamani, and former Rivers
State governor, Peter Odili.
Also in attendance was the
Niger State governor, Muazu
Babangida Aliyu, who denied
that PDP factions were
trying to disrupt the rally.
"Thank God that democracy
has prevailed, which allowed
the meeting to be shifted," he
said.
Several affirmations were
given by a representative of
each geopolitical zone before
Mr Babangida eventually took
the stage. Notably, each
affirmation centred on the
fact that zoning must prevail,
to ensure peace in Nigeria.
Mr Babangida insisted that
he had learned lessons after
being out of office for
"almost two decades". He
said that the "youth are the
country's most critical
resource." The former
military president vowed to
focus on "ignored sectors",
such as tourism, hospitality,
agriculture and the film
industry, if elected next
year.
The rally ended at about 2pm,
as PDP officials quickly
moved to Wadata House for
the pivotal NEC meeting. A
PDP spokesperson confirmed
last night that the meeting
would determine the order in
which the party would
conduct their primaries.
The influential Governors'
Forum has already convinced
the National Working
Committee to hold the
presidential primaries last.
It is now left to the executive
council to ratify that
decision.
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