A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday said the reason he and others were pushing for a consensus candidate among the presidential aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party was to reduce the likely rancour in the process of choosing the party’s flag bearer.
Saraki stated this in Makurdi when he led two other presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP, governors of Sokoto and Bauchi states, Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed, respectively to Benue State.
Saraki said the team would later in the day meet with a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, on the mission to find a consensus candidate among the presidential aspirants.
The former Senate President said the visit to Benue State was to inform Governor Samuel Ortom, whom he described as a critical stakeholder, of their mission and purpose.
Saraki said, “I’m here today with two brothers, the governor of Sokoto State, Tambuwal, and of course, the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, as part of our ongoing consultation involving the three of us, who have shown indication to aspire for presidency under our great party.
“On our own, a couple of weeks ago, we felt that in the interest of our great party that we should be able to come together and find a consensus among us.
“Our interest is very little compared to that of our country at this time, which is a very defining moment. I believe that only our party can rescue this country from where it is today and those of us who are aspiring are committed to ensuring that we find somebody who will unite us and who we will all support.
“That’s a better way to unite the party and reduce the rancour in the process; to do that, we must also carry along key stakeholders of the party, leaders in the party like you (Ortom), and that’s why we are here today.
“The seriousness comes from our total belief that it is the unity of our party. All of us are eminently qualified to lead this country; it’s about us ensuring that we put the country first and that is why we are here.”
Responding, Ortom said in spite of his belief in a southern presidency, the decision of the party on where the presidency should be zoned to would take pre-eminence.
He appreciated the team for coming up with the consensus idea and noted that it was high time Nigerians supported younger people.
The Benue governor stated, “Any person beyond 70 years should not be looking for the presidency. We are in the computer age and these three gentlemen you see here are computer literate and they have the capacity.
“We cannot continue to be in the analogue world. How many of you were alive in 1930 or 1945? During the Second World War, how many of you were born that time? Even me, I was born in 1961. So, the world has changed; we are now in the digital world and we must computerise and digitise governance too.”
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