A former governor of Kwara State and ex-Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday, met in Bauchi to fine-tune strategies for the emergence of a PDP consensus presidential aspirant from the North ahead of the party’s primary.
The three bigwigs are all seeking the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 general polls.
The party had already held its national convention which produced a northerner as its national chairman. Following this, agitations for the emergence of the party’s presidential candidate from the South is gaining momentum.
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But briefing newsmen at the end of their meeting, Saraki said PDP was the only option the country has to rescue it from imminent collapse, hence the need for unity and consensus.
He added that the aim of the visit was to meet with Governor Mohammed and put heads together to come up with workable solutions that would unite the party ahead of the 2023 polls.
“We appreciate the fact that three of us have shown aspiration to lead this country. We have come to realise that we are all capable, competent and fit to lead this country. At the end of the day, it is only one person that will lead this country in 2023.
“So we resolved that we are going to work closely together to ensure that we come up with a consensus arrangement. We believe our role is to make things easier for us; to have stability because if there is stability in PDP, there will be stability in Nigeria.
“We have all seen that APC is no longer a party; it is having challenges of administering its affairs. Anybody that cannot administer right cannot administer the country, so the only option for Nigerians is PDP.
“We believe because of that level of responsibility, we must bury our personal ambition. We believe that if the three of us – that, is myself, Governor Tambuwal and Governor Mohammed – are working together harmoniously, committed and with a lot of energy, there will be great hope for this country going ahead.
“The unity of the country, the stability of the country and the growth of the country is more important than individual ambitions, hence the need for us to work together,” Saraki said.
He said the party is a family which should not tolerate any form of division or faction.
The Special Adviser Media and Publicity to the Sokoto State Governor, Muhammad Bello, also confirmed in a statement that the issue of consensus was top on the agenda of the meeting.
Daily Trust reports that Kawu Baraje and the immediate past deputy governor of Zamfara State, Mahdi Aliyu, were part of the meeting.
