The
governor of Kano State, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, will on Thursday formally
declare his bid to contest the 2015 presidential election on the
platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, his campaign handler,
Olisaemeka Akumaki, has said.
Mr. Akumaki told journalists
in Abuja that the governor had concluded consultations among his
associates across the country and that they had given him the nod to
enter the presidential race.
By the decision, Mr. Kwankwaso would be joining other members of the opposition party who plan to run for president.
The
others include former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who has since
September 24 made his intention known; former Head of State, Muhammadu
Buhari, and publisher of Leadership Newspapers, who will openly declare
on October 15 and 28, respectively.
Mr. Akumaki said Mr.
Kwankwaso’s chances of clinching the ticket of the APC were bright not
only because of his age, but also because of his experience in politics.
He said, “Now in as much as we agree that Buhari is a man of
integrity but you will also agree with me that age is not on his side.
He is 73 going to 74 years and Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar is about
70 years old. But Kwankwaso will be 58 by October 21st.
“Kwankwaso
has long years of experience in politics. He has been a
parliamentarian, a governor and two-time minister. When he contested
governorship election in Kano state and lost, he congratulated the
winner and waited for eight years before staging a come-back to defeat
the incumbent. The governor is a grassroots politician and one who tries
to carry his followers along in his undertakings.”
Mr. Akumaki
also said Mr. Kwankwaso was more positioned educationally than his
competitors and that the governor also has strong political structure to
actualise his ambition.
He said, “From the angle of
qualification, the constitution is very clear on this. A man who has a
doctorate in Engineering, academically he is qualified; a man who has
not been convicted by any competent court; a man whom the EFCC and other
Federal Government anti-graft agencies have investigated and nothing
was found on him is eminently qualified to contest for the president of
the country.”
The campaign coordinator faulted those who
described the Kano State governor as a dark horse in the presidential
contest and that he was sure that some members of his former party, the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would still want him to aspire to the
nation’s highest political office, despite defecting from the ruling
party to the APC.
Credit: PremiumTimes
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