Former Kaduna State governor Ahmed Makarfi declares for president seeking PDP ticket

FORMER Kaduna State governor Senator Ahmed Makarfi has joined the race for Nigeria's presidency next year declaring that he will challenge ex-vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) ticket.

Senator Makarfi, 61, who governed Kaduna State between 1999 and 2007, later became a senator representing Kaduna North Senatorial District between 2007 and 2015. After the PDP lost the last election in 2015, he was then elected as the chairman of the party's caretaker committee until its convention earlier this year when Prince Uche Secondus became party boss.

Declaring his candidacy in Kaduna yesterday, Senator Makarfi said that after wide consultations with party men and women as well as other major stakeholders, he had decided to seek the party’s nomination to contest the polls. He added that he is now ready to pick the PDP nomination form ahead of the 2019 presidential elections.

At his declaration, Senator Makarfi explained that after the consultations, the result was quite positive and encouraging and that it was fair enough for him to come out and join other capable party men and women to seek the PDP's nomination for the 2019 presidential elections. His main rival will be Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who recently appointed former Ogun State governor Otunba Gbenga Daniels as the director-general of his campaign.

Senator Makarfi said: “I have not written to the party but who do you consult with? It is the same party men and women that you consult informally.

“At this stage, it is to seek the party’s nomination and the successful nominee will become the candidate that will stand for the election. But first thing first, if one’s party does not put one forward, one can’t say he is contesting the presidency, so at this stage, I have come to the conclusion that it is okay, based on the consultations that I have had.”

He noted that he had all it took to lead Nigerians to the promise land and thanked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for campaigning for the PDP through its bad governance. Senator Makarfi added that anybody that could manage Kaduna State, which he described as mini Nigeria, could as well govern the country.

“We must also thank the APC for working for us as they have refused to govern well and they have been fighting each other. For me, I have known governance for some time at the state level as I served Kaduna for three years as commissioner for finance and economic planning and I came in from the private sector.

“I have private sector experience, especially banking and I governed this complex state for eight years. I have legislative experience, having been in the Senate for a two-term of eight years and I got a bonanza, when the party leadership fell on my laps, to know about managing a political party," Senator Makarfi added.

When asked if he would quit the PDP should he fail to realise his ambition, the former governor said he would support whoever emerged as the candidate of the party. Apart from Alhaji Atiku, other contenders include former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke and former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido.