The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday named Senator Sandy Onor its consensus presidential candidate for the 2027 general election, ending weeks of internal jockeying with a formal announcement at Wadata Plaza in Abuja. Samuel Ortom disclosed the result during the collation and presentation of the party’s presidential primary results at the PDP national headquarters in Wuse Zone 5.
After the announcement, the party leadership handed Onor a certificate of return and the PDP flag, the clearest sign that it has settled on him as its standard-bearer for 2027. Earlier this month, he had declared his intention to run and collected his expression of interest and nomination forms, making him the sole aspirant in the race.
The weight of the decision lay in the way it was reached. Members of the presidential primaries collation committee said the process followed consultations and voice votes among party members across the states, with the final collation and announcement scheduled for Tuesday, 26 May 2026, at 3:00 p.m. in the NEC Hall at Wadata Plaza. Samuel Ortom was set to lead the 42-man committee assigned to conduct the exercise, a team made up of five members and 36 state coordinators.
The announcement did not stop in Abuja. In Ibadan on the same day, members of the party in Oyo State affirmed Prof. Sandy Onor as the candidate during a gathering of leaders and members, with the state chairman, Prof. Rahman Akinoso, presiding over and calling the voice vote. Barrister Hazeem Gbolarumi served as the returning officer and said the candidate was poised for victory in the 2027 general election.
That dual endorsement matters because it shows the party trying to present a unified front after consultations stretched across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The exercise was also monitored by INEC National Commissioners Abdullahi Zuru and Prof. Rhoda Habor Gumus, adding outside oversight to a process the party says was rooted in internal consensus.
The tension in the story is that the PDP is declaring a consensus candidate before the broader battle for 2027 has even fully begun. But on Tuesday, the message from Abuja and Ibadan was the same: Sandy Onor is the party’s choice, the paperwork is done, and the next phase belongs to the campaign.
