A former Nigerian senator, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has expressed his readiness to contest in the forthcoming 2019 presidential election.
The 48 year-old ex-lawmaker disclosed this at his residence in Abuja, according to a statement signed by the Chairman of the Datti Baba-Ahmed Campaign Media committee in Abuja on Friday, Mr Ibrahim Biu.
The statement reads: “Senator Datti Baba Ahmed’s (DBA) political journey started when he was first elected in April 2003 to the Federal House of Representatives for the Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State. He ran on the platform of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).
“In the April 2011 elections, Baba-Ahmed polled 366,398 votes in the contest to represent Kaduna North Senatorial district, beating his closest rival, Senator Ahmed Makarfi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the incumbent, who polled 365,043 votes.
“Datti Baba-Ahmed studied Economics at the prestigious University of Westminster, United Kingdom and at a time when the nation’s economy is on its knees, he comes highly recommended.
“At the age of 41, he had worked for the Security Printing and Minting company in Lagos, obtained two different Masters degrees and a PhD, served as elected Hon. Representative, Distinguished Senator, and established one of the top ranking private university with two other companies which employ over 600 people drawn from every state in the country.”
Biu described Senator Baba-Ahmed as a young and vibrant Nigerian who has all the credentials to move Nigeria to the next level, adding that “he is capable of unifying the country and bringing peace to all the regions.”
He added that Baba-Ahmed’s passion for educational advancement enabled him obtained additional educational qualifications at London Business School, Harvard Kennedy and Harvard business school respectively.
“He has a reputation of speaking fearlessly against corruption, bad governance and societal problems. His uncompromising stance against corruption remains an important ingredient needed for a leader that wants to steer the ship of the Nigerian state. This is a man that will favour building institutions over creating strong personalities.
“Senator Datti has also been a proponent of Security, Economy and Education (SEE) programme. His position is that, with the right investment in these critical sectors of the economy, Nigeria will be an inch away from the problems militating against the nation.
“The common yearning in the Nigerian political space is for a fresh face to lead, heralding a departure from the recycling of leaders that Nigeria has always had for decades.
“The youth who are the majority of Nigerian population, are in desperate need of a leader and a mentor that they can rally behind with their support having been disappointed so many times by the old stock.
“In an era of total distrust for leaders, Nigeria is in dire need of a young, energetic and competent leader with no baggage to run for President in 2019,” the statement added.
He further described Senator Baba-Ahmed as “a successful scholar and businessman who has what it takes to bring about a re-engineering of the Nigerian economy and create jobs for the army of unemployed youth in the country.”
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