The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State has affirmed a former Director General of National Orientation Agency ( NOA), Dr Mike Omeri as its consensus candidate for the Southern Senatorial Zone of the State.
The affirmation took place on Wednesday in Lafia during a political gathering attended by party faithful, community leaders, and regulatory observers.
Dr Omeri’s affirmation followed weeks of internal consultations and strategic alignment by party elders in the State.
Speaking immediately after the endorsement, the former NOA boss said the consensus arrangement was a collective mandate to drive progress in the zone.
”It shows that the people have agreed by way of consensus to work together to advance the fortunes and goodness of this area. I am honored and I appreciate this choice. I humbly accept the nomination by all the people of this zone to represent them,” Omeri stated.
He promised to bring his wealth of public service experience to the table, emphasising that he understands the weight of legislative responsibility.
”I know what it means to work in the National Assembly to represent, to deliver, and to take the views of the people to the nation and from the nation to the people,” Omeri stated.
“That is what I will do. It is a promise I will keep by the grace of God”, he added.
Omeri extended an olive branch to fellow party members who had harbored similar ambitions, urging them to collapse their structures into a singular campaign machine.
”In any contest, people are bound to win and people are bound to lose. In losing, you become part of the team. In winning, you absorb everybody.
“For those who contested, or wanted to contest but stepped down for us, we are together as one team, one family. We will work together to advance what is in our individual minds and make it a collective issue so that we all succeed”, he said.
Dr Omeri expressed confidence that the grassroots backing displayed during the primary would carry over into the general polls.
He therefore called on the electorate to remain peaceful and mobilise to win and to refuse to be distracted by happenings in the state.
Also speaking, PDP State Chairman, Dr Joel Daniel Gimba, defended the party’s methodology, noting that the selection strictly adhered to statutory regulations.
”Well, you know the Electoral Guideline make everything straight in the sense that we have two ways going into primaries: either by consensus, or direct primary.
“And you know, like I always say, in PDP, we are united, and we are more of one family. And anywhere you find a united family, there is always understanding whenever it comes to times of issues like this. So, elders have sat down and they have assessed all the aspirants and they finally decided to nominate him as the sole candidate to represent them in that particular constituency”, he said.
Gimba noted that the massive crowd at the venue was a clear indicator of the party’s grassroots strength in the Southern zone, saying that the day’s event was a “litmus test” for the opposition party’s sweeping momentum.
He emphasised that the PDP’s adherence to due process stands in stark contrast to competing political factions.
”We are people that always abide by due process, by law. We are only loyal to the group that is recognized by INEC. That’s why our process is aligned. You can see INEC are monitoring our this thing alongside security agencies and the rest,” the Chairman concluded.
The Voice reports that the consensus process was heavily monitored by officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and various security agencies.
