Former Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Kabiru Turaki, has been officially elected as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following a decisive vote at the party’s national convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The announcement was made Saturday night by former lawmaker Senator Ben Obi of Anambra Central. Turaki emerged unopposed after Lado Danmarke, the PDP’s 2023 Katsina governorship candidate, withdrew from the race. Despite withdrawing, Danmarke still received 275 votes, while Turaki secured 1,516 votes to claim the chairmanship.
Out of 1,834 votes cast, 43 were voided. Senator Obi confirmed Turaki’s victory and also announced Solarin Sunday Adekunle as Deputy National Organising Secretary with 633 votes. Positions for National Youth Leader and Deputy National Legal Adviser were stepped down, while 17 other offices went uncontested with their nominees returned elected.
A total of 3,131 delegates participated in the voting process, with 2,745 delegates accredited. Governors Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), and Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau) attended the convention, while Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers), and Agbu Kefas (Taraba) were absent. Other notable attendees included Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro, former governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), and PDP Board of Trustees Chairman Senator Adolphus Wabara.
Earlier this year, the PDP National Executive Committee zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South and the national chairmanship to the North, in accordance with the party’s rotation policy. Leading up to the convention, influential North-West stakeholders endorsed Turaki as the consensus candidate during a series of October meetings, with support from governors in Bauchi, Plateau, Adamawa, and Zamfara, as well as key figures like former Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Ministers Jerry Gana and Ibrahim Shekarau, and Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro.