Veteran Politician, Lawal, Emerges Borno PDP Consensus Guber Candidate

PDPA one-time national chairmanship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former national chairman of the defunct Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM) during the Abacha junta, Alhaji Gambo Lawal, has emerged the consensus governorship candidate of the PDP in Borno State.

The choice of Lawal was announced soon after leaders and elders of the party in the state emerged from a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the presidential villa, Abuja on Thursday.

Former Minister of National planning, Sanusi Daggash, who spoke with State House correspondents after the meeting with the president, said he led the party leaders from the state to Aso Rock to confer with Mr. Jonathan on who should be adopted as the party’s consensus candidate for the governorship race in Borno.

Among the PDP elders who accompanied Daggash to the meeting with President Jonathan at the villa was former Governor of Borno State, Sen. Ali-modu Sheriff.

The former minister told journalists that since there was no time for them to organize the party’s primary in the state considering the tense political situation, the state chapter of the party adopted the consensus option in the spirit of what he called ‘PDP’s family affair’.

He, however, assured that the PDP would defeat the incumbent governor of the state, Alhaji Kashim Shettima of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in spite of the fact that Borno is considered a stronghold of the opposition.

Apart from being former national chairman of the GDM, the consensus candidate, Lawal played a prominent role in the National Conference of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria in the early 90s.