The People’s Redemption Party (PRP) says it does not have a presidential candidate, neither supports nor has it adopted any of the presidential candidates running for office in the 2019 General Elections. In a statement partying company with its Jigawa State official credited with declaring that the party has adopted President Muhammad Buhari as its presidential candidate in the forthcoming elections, the PRP said no such endorsement is true or representative of the party’s position.
The rebuttal titled “Clarifications by PRP on Presidential Election” insists that is the position of the party and, having been endorsed by all its organs and confirmed by the National Executive Committee, remains binding on all branches and organs of the PRP. While acknowledging the freedom of individual members to decide which of the presidential candidates to support, based on their consciences, no branch of the PRP has a mandate to so choose for the party a candidate, said the statement signed by Alhaji Abdul Gombe, the party’s National Publicity Secretary.
Intervention understands that the issue of whether to endorse any of the existing top presidential candidates or not has been the subject of a long debate within the party. While some governorship candidates of the party gave reasons for endorsing one or the other of the two leading contestants, the overall position rejected such in favour of strategic neutrality at the moment. And as at today, that position is what the meeting of the party’s governorship candidates, the Board of Trustees and the NEC are all standing by. How the statement from Jigawa might have occurred is thus only what time might tell. At the moment, the PRP is magically showing good following in Bauchi, Kano, Imo, Benue, Kaduna, Katsina and Niger states.
