Former Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki has expressed optimism that the consensus candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will wrest power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
Saraki, flanked by Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, stated this in an interview shortly after a closed-door meeting with Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri in Bayelsa Government House, Yenagoa.
According to Saraki the quest by some presidential aspirants to form a united force is for the party to forge a united front in its efforts to take over power from the APC.
Saraki indicated that in time all the presidential aspirants would meet over the consensus arrangement.
He stressed that as an opposition party, the PDP cannot wrest power from the APC if it is not united, adding that the interest of Nigeria supersedes individual interest.
‘We are here to intimate the governor on our efforts to have a consensus candidate. As you all know, three of us have indicated interest to run on the platform of the PDP. We have been going around talking to the leaders of our party,’ he stated.
‘The governor of Bayelsa is not only a leader but a key stakeholder who has a role to play in the 2023 election.
‘The country, despite the propaganda of the APC, is in very bad shape. It is only the PDP that can rebuild it and give it the direction that it needs. To do that, we talk about the country not being united. You cannot lead the country when you are not united.
‘We all have individual ambitions but what we have come to accept and believe in is that the interest of Nigeria is far bigger than individual interests. That is why in the last three weeks we have been moving around the country, letting our leaders know that a consensus approach should be used to pick any of us.
‘Our appeal to Nigerians is that we feel your pains, the hardship and insecurity. That is why our ambition is to return this country to PDP and make your lives better.’
Governor Diri in his remarks urged the PDP to forge a united front if the party wants to win the forthcoming election.
He insisted that the party must not be factionalised as a result of individual ambitions but rather come together to pursue the common purpose of winning the 2023 presidential election.
The Bayelsa governor, who promised to work for the success of the party at the polls, commended the aspirants for putting their individual interests aside for the good of the party.
‘There is no other way than unity of purpose of the PDP. We must realise that we are an opposition party. We are not a party in power and cannot afford to be factionalised and fractionalised due to individual ambition,’ the governor stated.
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