ABUJA—Ahead of the 2019 Presidential election, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has ruled out any possibility of micro zoning its ticket to a particular geo-political 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.
