Disquiet As Opposition Party, PDP Moves Presidential Primary To MKO Abiola Stadium In Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may now be forced to use the MKO Abiola Stadium in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for its May 28 presidential primary according to new developments.

This is just as the party has also adjusted dates of its state Houses of Assembly, Governorship, Senate and House of Representatives’ primaries, according to Daily Independent.

The party had during its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting ratified the conduct of the presidential primary (special national convention) to elect its presidential candidate on Saturday, May 28 to Sunday, May 29, 2022 in Abuja.

The venue, has, however, become an issue as the All Progressives Congress (APC) had already fixed the venue of its convention at Eagle Square, Abuja, where PDP had its special convention to elect its national officers in October, last year.

In its letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP, it was learnt, stated that it will hold its convention at the MKO Stadium, Abuja.

The venue, some stakeholders of the party, who do not want their names mentioned, said the place is too small for where the presidential primary should take place.

It was noted that the party is expecting about 3,700 delegates with about 10,000 supporters and staff, while the capacity of the facility, where the primary will take place at the MKO Stadium, is about 7,000.

The party stakeholders have expressed sadness that the venue will not be able to accommodate the delegates, supporters and friends of aspirants.

Of more concern, the stakeholders said is that, according to the schedule of PDP activities, the party was supposed to publish the names of delegates on Tuesday and that has not been done.

Meanwhile, the party has further extended the dates for its congresses/primaries.

The new date for the governorship primary is now Wednesday, May 25, 2022, while that of the Senate is Monday, May 23, 2022.

While the primary for House of Representatives is Sunday, May 22, 2022, the date for state House of Assembly is now Saturday, May 21, 2022.

The date for the presidential primary remains May 28 and 29.

Similarly, the chairman of the convention venue and protocol and Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, on Tuesday met with former President Goodluck Jonathan. Recall that in the last two weeks, it was reported that the former president will seek re-election in 2023 on the platform of the APC.

Though Jonathan denied the media report that he purchased N100 million APC presidential expression of interests and nomination forms, his recent meeting with the party’s national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, suggested otherwise.

However, Ortom’s meeting with Jonathan that lasted 40 minutes took place at the Abuja residence of the former president on Tuesday.

Ortom’s chief press secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, said the meeting was held “in a bid to strengthen the PDP family ahead of the 2023 general elections.”