The 2019 presidential election is
just about four months away and various political parties have been working
round the clock to present a candidate that will challenge President Muhammadu
Buhari during the polls. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is at the forefront
of this.
On Saturday, the party will hold
its presidential primary election in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. Determined to
return to power in 2019, the PDP would have to choose its presidential
candidate from a list of 12 presidential aspirants.
Who are the aspirants and what do
they stand for?
ATIKU ABUBAKAR
Former President Atiku Abubakar
Abubakar is running for president for the fourth time, having contested in
2007, 2011 and 2015. Since he left office as vice-president in the Olusegun
Obasanjo administration, Abubakar has been actively involved in politics
although on different political platforms, leaving the PDP only to return there
in 2017.
No doubt one of the most
prominent figures in the race, Atiku was also a founding member of the PDP and
is seen as one of the party’s biggest financiers. One of Abubakar’s priorities
if elected president, according to him, would be restructuring the country. He
is aged 71.
BUKOLA SARAKI
Call him Nigeria’s Francis
Underwood – from popular American series ‘House of Cards’ – and you may not be
far from the truth. Smart, ambitious and dogged, Senate President Bukola Saraki
is one of those who makes the presidential race a close contest. He declared to
join the race after leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC) amid a running
battle with the APC-led federal government.
A two-time governor, Saraki’s
emergence as senate president remains a mystery to many, especially his party
which at the time was rooting for another candidate in the person of Ahmad
Lawan, incumbent senate leader. Whether the politics surrounding that incident
will also play out at the PDP primary or not, only time can tell. At 55, he is
one of the youngest in the race.
AMINU TAMBUWAL
Aminu Tambuwal is the current
governor of Sokoto state and was speaker of the house of representatives
between 2011 and 2015. He was elected speaker on the platform of PDP but
defected to APC in 2014. He later won the governorship ticket of the APC and
defeated the PDP candidate in the 2015 election, only to return to the PDP a
few months ago.
His first experience in
legislative proceedings was in 1999, as a personal assistant on legislative
affairs to Abdullahi Wali, the then senate leader. Tambuwal has said if elected
president, part of his agenda would be to address the seeming lack of
transparency in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He is 52 and
is one of the youngest among the PDP presidential aspirants.
RABIU MUSA KWANKWASO
A two-time governor of Kano state
and senator representing Kano central senatorial district, Kwankwaso is another
bigwig in the PDP seeking to unseat Buhari in 2019. With a huge fan base in
Kano engineered by the Kwankwasiya movement, Kwankwaso was one of those that
formed the APC and his impact in politics in the north is not in doubt.
Just like some of the other
aspirants, the senator recently defected from the APC to the PDP. During his
presidential declaration, he harped on education as one of his core mandates if
elected president. “We believe that education is the cornerstone of any
development and nation-building. Education shall be a cardinal point of our
administration,” he had said. The senator is aged 61.
SULE LAMIDO
Lamido was elected governor of
Jigawa in 2007 and got re-elected in 2015. Before serving as governor, he had
served as Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister between 1999 and 2003, under
Obasanjo. Interestingly, he also co-founded the party alongside the likes of
Atiku, giving him some edge over “new entrants” like Saraki.
In one of his presidential
rallies held in Jigawa, he had said: “During my time as foreign affairs
minister, I was known all over the world; while my track record as former
governor of eight years has raised me above Buhari.”
The former governor and his two
sons are facing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
over alleged fraud. He is aged 70.
IBRAHIM DANKWAMBO
Ibrahim Dankwambo is currently
serving his second term as governor of Gombe state. Before assuming office in
2011, he had served as accountant-general of the federation and is believed to
be one of the leading technocrats of northern extraction.
The governor is seen to be
performing especially in the area of infrastructural development and although
with not so many years in politics, he is intent on winning the PDP’s
presidential ticket. He is aged 56.
KABIRU TURAKI
A senior advocate of Nigeria
(SAN), Kabiru Turaki served under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan as a minister
of special duties and inter-governmental affairs as well as supervising
minister, ministry of labour and productivity.
He had also served as chairman,
Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC) and is currently the chairman of PDP
former ministers’ forum.
As minister, he was directly
involved in seeking a solution to the Boko Haram insurgency when he chaired the
presidential committee on dialogue and peaceful resolution of security
challenges in the north.
Turaki believes he has what it
takes to address the nation’s security challenges and fix the economy. He is
aged 61.
ATTAHIRU BAFARAWA
Attahiru Bafarawa is another
former governor seeking to unseat Buhari on the platform of the PDP. He was a
two-time governor of Sokoto state from 1999 to 2007 and as far back as 1979,
ran to become a member of the house of representatives but failed.
Bafarawa founded the Democratic
Peoples Party (DPP) and became its presidential candidate at the 2007
presidential election.
He is one of those to look out
for during the primaries. He had earlier said he will give priority to the
south-east if he wins in 2019. He is 63.
DATTI BABA-AHMED
Formerly of the All Nigeria Peoples
Party (ANPP), Datti Baba-Ahmed defeated Ahmed Makarfi, former governor of
Kaduna, and one of the notable presidential aspirants, in the 2011 elections,
to emerge senator representing Kaduna north senatorial zone.
He started his political career
with his election into the house of representatives in 2003, representing Zaria
federal constituency.
Baba-Ahmed believes that if he
emerges the PDP flag bearer for 2019, Buhari would be forced to drop his second
term ambition.
Defeating a former governor of
Kaduna says a lot about his popularity. He is aged 46. According to his
official website, he’s the youngest of the PDP presidential aspirants.
AHMED MAKARFI
A two-time governor of Kaduna
state between 1999 and 2007, Ahmed Makarfi has also served as senator
representing Kaduna north senatorial zone, from the time he left office up
until 2011 when he lost to Baba-Ahmed.
In 2016, Makarfi emerged chairman
of the PDP national caretaker committee after the party’s national convention
was cancelled, leading to the dissolution of the Ali Modu Sheriff-led national
working committee.
A subsequent leadership tussle
between Makarfi and Sheriff was finally brought to an end in 2017 when the
supreme court ruled that he is the authentic chairman of the party.
Makarfi believes no other
presidential aspirant in the PDP has his pedigree. He is aged 62.
JONAH JANG
Another former governor in the
race, Jonah Jang led Plateau from 2007 to 2015 before he was elected into the
senate to represent Plateau north senatorial district.
Jang believes “it is time” for
the Middle Belt to rule Nigeria and had said if elected, fighting corruption
would be his priority.
Interestingly, the senator is
currently facing corruption trial on a 12-count charge of allegedly diverting
N6.3 billion while he was in office, an allegation he has denied.
He believes that “if you want to
stop corruption, it is not by arresting people here and there” as “there is a
route where this corruption comes from.” He is aged 74.
DAVID MARK
David Mark served as senate
president from 2007 to 2015 and has the record of being Nigeria’s longest
serving senator, having been in the upper legislative chamber since 1999.
He had retired as a brigadier
general in the Nigerian army before joining politics in 1998.
His popularity as a former number
three citizen is not in doubt and he is perhaps, one of the PDP presidential
aspirants with strong leadership experience.
Mark had said when he joined the
race that “in two years, if given the opportunity, we will turn the economy of
this country round, we will solve these security problems … I think I have got
the credentials to be able to do what I have promised my team.” The senator is
aged 70.
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