The three politicians have indicated their interest in contesting for the PDP party’s presidential ticket for 2023
By Emma Ogbuehi
Evidence that politicians from the North are not yet prepared to give up power emerged on Sunday when Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, played host to his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, as part of efforts towards producing a consensus presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The three politicians have indicated their interest in contesting for the opposition party’s presidential ticket.
The issue of zoning has become thorny in the PDP. While politicians from the North are laying claim to it, their counterparts from the South are insisting that after eight years of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, power should gravitate to the South for the sake of equity, fairness and justice.
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But a credible PDP source who spoke anonymously to TheNiche on Sunday said, “The feelers we are getting from the North is that they are not ready to relinquish power even after eight years of Buhari’s presidency.
“And they think that the easiest path to realising their dream is the PDP. The calculation is that if APC zones the presidency to the South, the PDP will produce a Northern candidate and they think he will win.
“In fact, they are praying that people like the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who has been rumoured to be nursing a presidential ambition should be handed over the ticket.
“Knowing the North and the way they play politics, I will not be surprised that they are the people projecting Emefiele, who they know that any candidate from the North can easily defeat.
“And don’t be surprised that even President Buhari may be aware of this plot,” our source, who hails from the South South concluded.
Meanwhile, speaking after the meeting, Saraki said they were in Bauchi to consult among themselves as presidential aspirants of northern extraction in the PDP to settle for a consensus candidate who would represent the North.
He said “We are here to meet to forge the way forward. This is an initiative of the three of us. We are concerned about the hardship people of our country are going through, especially the cost of living. Our stand is that it is very clear that PDP is the only viable option today, and as such, as key stakeholders of the party, we find it necessary to sit down together to see how best we can provide leadership and direction.
“So, we discussed that for 2023 ahead of us, the unity, stability and progress of the country is more important than our individual ambitions. There is a need for us to work together. When the three of us work together in honesty and commitment, there will be great hope for this country going ahead.
“We appreciate that three of us have shown aspiration to lead this country, and we realize that we are all capable and competent to lead this country. But it is only one person that will lead this country. So, we resolved to work closely together to ensure that we come out with a consensus from among us to forge the way forward.
“Our role is to make things easier and bring stability because if there is stability in PDP, there will be stability in Nigeria. You can all see that the All Progressives Congress (APC), is no longer a party. They have problems administering their party, and anybody that cannot administer his party cannot administer the country.”
Saraki who said Nigerians were looking at the PDP to rescue the country, noted that the three of them were ready to forgo their personal ambitions for the progress of the country, saying “The only option for Nigerians is PDP and we are ready to lead. Because of the level of responsibility Nigerians have placed on us, we must bury our personal ambitions for the progress of this country.
“We know that before now some have shown aspiration and even gone ahead to acquire nomination forms that are parts of the process but what we have done today supersedes that. We have also told our supporters to reduce the rhetoric because we are family.
“What is important here is Nigeria that is why we have agreed to work together. Of course, we also have a senior brother, the Warizi (Atiku Abubakar) who is not here; we will go and greet him too. We will meet and continue to work along these lines. When we meet him and share our thoughts, we will be able to comment on what our consensus will be. “
