THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has proposed January 11-13 to pick its presidential candidate.
The frontrunners are President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The party’s National Working Committee (NWC) decided the dates at its meeting yesterday in Abuja, a member of the body told our reporter last night.
But the decision
will be ratified by the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, which has been fixed for next Thursday in Abuja.
The ruling party will be busy all week, with the NEC meeting preceded by a meeting of the Board of Trustees and the Caucus.
The NWC meeting presided over by National Chairman Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo fixed January 3 for the primaries into the House of Representatives and January 4 for Senate primaries.
Appeals arising from the elections will be heard and decided between January 5 and 6.
According to the proposed guidelines, the governorship aspirants and aspirants into the State Houses of Assembly will take their turns between January 8 and 9. Petitions arising from there will be decided on January 10.
Presidential primaries will be staggered across three days – January 11-13 -across the states to be bunched into three groups on geo-political zonal basis.
The appeal from the presidential primaries will be heard on January 14.
The Ratification Convention where delegates will merely crown the candidate, who must have emerged from the primaries, as decided in the states, will be held in Abuja on January 15.
The name of the presidential candidate is to be submitted same day, the last day fixed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the political parties to submit the names of their presidential candidates.
Senators and members of the House of Representatives are pushing for automatic tickets through the "right of first refusal clause", it was learnt Thursday.
The legislators have been lobbying for automatic tickets in the light of the new rapport with the President.
A Senator, who spoke in confidence, said: "We will soon engage the leadership of the party on the need to concede automatic tickets to Senators and Reps through the Right of First Refusal.
"While we may no longer include automatic tickets in the ongoing amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act, we want the party to grant us the Right of First Refusal.
"It is even a good development that the President said on Wednesday night that 60-70 per cent of us should return to the National Assembly.
"What our colleagues are saying is that how do you determine 60-70 per cent. That is why we want automatic tickets."
In preparation for the presidential primaries of the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he will personally be involved in his campaign from next week.
The President unfolded plans to increase the pace of his campaign at a meeting with PDP caucus in the House of Representatives on Wednesday night.
A source at the meeting quoted the President as saying: "All along, I have not been involved in campaigning, but as from next week, I will personally go out to campaign. The time has come for it.
"I came to see you (PDP caucus members) as part of my preparations for my campaign from next week
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