SARAKI, ATIKU, KWANKWASO: PDP REVEALS HOW PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WILL EMERGE
SARAKI,
ATIKU, KWANKWASO: PDP REVEALS HOW PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WILL EMERGE
Ahead of the 2019 Presidential election, Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, has ruled out any possibility of micro-zoning its ticket to a particular
geopolitical zone in the north.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan,
disclosed this in reaction to a call by the lawmaker representing Kano Central
senatorial district, Rabiu Kwankwaso, that the PDP should pick its presidential
candidate from the North-West to stand a better chance of ousting All
Progressives Congress, APC, from Aso Rock in 2019.
Ologbondiyan, who had often insisted that the leadership of the
party would not stand in the way of delegates in the determination of the PDP
flag bearer for the 2019 presidential election, noted that all aspirants would
reach out to delegates to present their plans for Nigerians ahead of the polls.
He said: “Senator Kwankwaso said what in his opinion, represents
the best option for the PDP but as a party that is democratic, there is no way
we will shut out any aspirant because of where he comes from.
“The party has encouraged them (aspirants) to reach out to
Nigerians and present their plans so that at the end, the one that will emerge
the candidate will carry the others along.
“I repeat, we are not going to shut anybody out of the
presidential race because we believe each of these aspirants has what it takes
to outperform President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC if given the opportunity to
preside over the affairs of this nation.”
The North-West currently has formidable aspirants on the platform
of the PDP, including Senator Ahmed Makarfi, former governor of Kaduna State,
his Kano and Sokoto states’ counterparts, Ibrahim Shekarau, and Attahiru
Bafarawa respectively as well as erstwhile Special Duties Minister, Tanimu
Turaki, and businessman, Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed.
