Presidency 2019: Senator Makarfi Declares Interest

 

MICHAEL AKINOLA

Former Governor of Kaduna State,Senator Ahmed Makarfi has finally declared to run in the 2019 presidential election.

In an interview with journalists in Kaduna, Senator Makarfi, the former Caretaker Committee Chairman of the PDP, said he is in a better position to address the myriads of problems confronting the country.

According to Makarfi, the All Progressive Congress has made it easier, through its failure, for a smooth victory of any candidate fielded by the Peoples Democratic party.

He said though he has advantages that other contenders for the PDP ticket do not have, he is ready to work with any candidate that emerges through a free and fair contest.

“I have been consulting across the country since I left as the chairman of the party. It’s is just consultations and not endorsement. But it gives you an opportunity to feel the pulse and it will tell whether to go forward or not to go forward. The consultations have been quite positive and i believe it is fair enough to come to the conclusion that one should join other equally capable party men and women who have shown interest in seeking the party’s nomination for the 2019 presidential election. At this stage, it is to seek for the party’s nomination. The successful nominees will become the candidate that will stand for the election. But first thing first. If ones party does not put him forward, you can’t say you are contesting for presidency yet.

“At this stage, I have come to the conclusion that it is okay, based on the consultations that I have had. Those who have shown interest are equally capable. We do not know how many more will show interest but whatever it is, power comes from God. The party men and women will decide who will be the candidate. I will subject myself to the will of God and the decision of the party men and women whenever it is made” he said.

He pilloried the APC government for polarizing the country along ethnic and religious lines.

“Managing complex security issues is not new to me. Managing complex people of societies is not new to me. If you look at it from that perspective, one is prepared for the job.

“Again, managing a party in crisis. If we did not manage the party well, we would not be talking about PDP by now. It’s not as if we did not fall out but the fall out was not significant enough to threaten the PDP, as a matter of fact, the trajectory is the PDP is actually going up and not going down. You can look at what is happening or about to happen in the All Progressive Congress, which is likely going to split into two or three once they hold their convention. We had a few people who moved out of the PDP but there was no split. Myself and my team and the rest of the leaders of the party were able to achieve that.

“Because of my balanced nature, I was able to manage the mutual suspicion either on ethnic or religious coloration while I was in Kaduna. I was called names but I was happy because I was for none and I was for all. As the president, you have to be for all Nigerians. My life history has been that. Of course, I was lucky that I went to secondary school in the east. That impacted me positively. At a young age, I became exposed to almost every Nigerian because my school was a reflection of every ethnic group in Nigeria. That kind of upbringing is something that sticks in you and moulds you. Nothing will be strange to me in terms of governance. I believe we did fairly well in Kaduna state not just in terms of keeping the peace, not just being fair and equitable in terms of treating people but also in terms of development and treating people. No part of the state cried that I was favoring one part against the other. Even in terms of the job we did, they were quality enough relative to the money that we had. I am out of office now for eleven years and when I drive through the roads that we constructed fifteen years ago and I see they don’t have pot holes, I marvel. But look at what we have now, three months after rehabilitation, you are back to square one. But then, a tree does not make a forest. It is for us to be able to build a team and to hold the team accountable. The president must be able to build a good team that is reflective of Nigeria and the team is capable and must work as one and not in conflict with each other.

“You cannot have institutions of government going different direction on same issue. If I find myself in the office of the president and such happens, it is either one of them goes or both of them leave, depending on what the issues are. the question of managing one of them because of personal relationship must not be there because it is national interest that is the issue” Makarfi said.

He said the failure of the APC has made the job of defeating them easier.

“We must also thank the APC for working for us because they have been working for us . They have refused to govern well, they have been fighting each other. They are many things for which we can thank them. There is no way the executive and the legislature can work again as one . The is no way the party can be cohesive again. There are elements in government fighting each other and there is nobody to call them to order. We should not expand our energy when somebody is working for us” Senator Makarfi said.

Makarfi becomes the second member of the PDP to make his intention public after former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.