- The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Tanimu Turaki, has said the party under his leadership will ensure transparency, fairness, and equity, such that only people of integrity and credibility will make it to the ballot.
Turaki made the statement on Sunday evening at a banquet and book presentation in honor of a former Minister of Information and Culture, Jerry Gana, to mark his 80th birthday.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that Turaki was elected Chairman of the PDP at the party’s controversial National Convention held on 14 and 15 November, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State. Following his election, Turaki, in his acceptance speech, promised to reform the party, restore internal democracy, and end impunity within the PDP.
In his address, he was responding to comments by former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Mu’azu, who said Nigeria missed the opportunity of having Jerry Gana as President. He added that under his leadership, aspirants would only need qualities of integrity and credibility, like Gana, to secure a place on the ballot.
“His Excellency, the Chief Servant said Nigeria has lost an opportunity of having a President Jerry Gana. And I want to respond by saying that the new PDP is going to make that possible. Because the new PDP is one that is going to allow the people to decide what they want, how they want it, and when they want it. The new PDP will ensure that there is transparency, there is fairness, there is equity, and there is justice in whatever process we do. So that if you have integrity like Prof Jerry Gana, if you have credibility like Prof Jerry Gana, if you have a brand like Prof Jerry Gana, that is all you need in the new PDP to make it to the ballot paper,” he said.
Turaki further eulogized the celebrant as “a man of credibility” and “a politician’s politician,” noting that despite his long years in public service, the former minister never soiled his name, a quality he said was only found in the PDP.
“People who have spoken this night have spoken about the charismatic Prof Jerry Gana, a man of credibility, a man of integrity, a politician’s politician. An icon. An enigma. An institution. Somebody who had made success in academics, made success in public life, made success in politics, made success in family life, made success in private life, made success in virtually everything that he ventured to do. And in spite of this, he maintained and kept his integrity. He had never soiled his name in spite of the several public offices that he had held. People like Jerry Gana are only found in the PDP,” the Chairman stated.
The biography of the celebrant, Jerry Gana: Stewardship in Integrity, was authored by Mark Simon, with the foreword written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
