Former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has reiterated the determination of the presidential aspirants from northern Nigeria, under the canopy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to produce a consensus candidate.

Saraki, who made the assertion in Asaba on Monday, stressed that such a consensus arrangement would engender the much-desired unity in the country in 2023.

The ex-senate president and also a former governor of Kwara State, was in the Delta State capital at the head of a delegation that included three other PDP presidential hopefuls, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State as well as former Managing Director of FSB International Bank Plc, Alhaji Mohammad Hayatu-Deen, to consult with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State.

The delegation had earlier had a private meeting with Dr. Okowa, ostensibly to fine-tune their position around a consensus PDP candidacy in 2023.

This was coming ahead of tomorrow's (Tuesday) meeting where the 37-man PDP zoning committee chaired by the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom is expected to present its report.

THISDAY reported that Abubakar Bukola Saraki Contact and Advocacy Council, led by Senator (Prof)  Iyorwuese Higher, was last week in Asaba to woo state PDP delegates, meeting with the Delta State PDP Chairman, Kingsley Esiso, at the party's state secretariat in Asaba.

Nonetheless, Saraki stressed that Nigeria was in dire need of competent hands in central leadership to arrest the current drift of the country into the miry waters of poverty, insecurity, and anarchy.

According to him, Nigeria was the largest economy in Africa under the PDP, but the country was now the poverty and kidnapping capital of the world under the All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government. 

Saraki said, "We are here, the four of us, to discuss with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa how to build consensus for our party ahead of the presidential election. We had a very useful discussion with the governor. We have decided to come as four of us who are aspiring to be president on the PDP platform."

Turning to Okowa, who he noted always put the interest of Nigeria before self, Saraki said, "Your Excellency, you know your reputation for the PDP and the country is always first in your mind and ever since when there is an assignment that has to do with ensuring unity of the party you have always been called upon. That's why we are here to meet with you and share with you what we have been trying to do.

"The four of us have been meeting and we came up with this idea that in the interest of the party, we should come together and look at a consensus arrangement.

"This is important because we believe that the country needs unity. We are all eminently qualified to lead this country but we believe that only one person will lead and that person needs everybody to make Nigeria better and fix this country.

"This also goes to show that this consensus arrangement is not just about the issue of the North but about Nigeria and to carry you along on what we intend to do.

"We have shared our thoughts with you and you have also shared your ideas with us on what we need to do and we can assure you that we are committed to this consensus process.

"This consensus is needed so that at the end of the day, PDP will be united to provide leadership for this country because the way the country is today, we need to fix it, we need to tackle the issue of insecurity and unemployment."

Responding, Governor Okowa thanked the visitors for coming to intimate him on their plans and said that consensus candidacy was indeed in the best interest of the unity of the party and the country.

Okowa said, "I truly want to welcome you to Delta state. I have listened to you and the fact that you have started to meet together to think of the best way possible for us to get out of the very difficult situation we have found ourselves as a country is very heart-warming.

"I thank you for putting yourselves together to educate the rest of us from across various states on the need for us to build a consensus.

"I believe that it will reduce acrimony and help to position us as a party in order to help to compete favorably and win the 2023 elections.

"There's no doubt that God has favored us and placed us in a good position to be able to win the elections but we need to also take some human actions that will enable us to give strength to ourselves.

"This action that four of you have taken today is actually a step in the right direction. It will strengthen us and pull us together.

"It is my prayer that God will help you achieve this consensus that you seek to build because, in that consensus, we will be united as a party, which will give a lot of hope to Nigerians, that truly, PDP is working the talk.

"I think that this is the kind of thing that we need at the moment and as you take this step forward, may God give you the strength to be able to engage the rest of our brothers across this nation.

"We hope that at the end, we would be in a place to say yes, we have really strengthened the PDP and that we are in a better position than other political parties to compete."

Okowa later, still on Monday, proceeded to Ughelli for the Delta Central PDP Mega Rally where the party was to welcome numerous members of the APC and other parties who had defected to the PDP.