Sokoto PDP Stakeholders Call on Tambuwal to Contest for President, Gov Says He Will Begin Consultation

*To make his intention known end of February

By Onuminya Innocent

Stakeholders of Sokoto Peoples Democratic Party have called on Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to contest for President in 2023. Tambuwal, in his response, said he would begin consultations across the country.

Rising from a stakeholders meeting at the party Secretariat in the state capital, leaders of PDP expressed confidence in the leadership of Tambuwal and called on him to contest for the topmost position in Nigeria to rescue the country.

Responding to the call, Tambuwal said he had never ventured into any political contest without seeking the approval and blessing of the people of his state as well as his constituency.

He said: “I have listened to our party leaders, women and youths on the call that I should initiate and begin the process of consultations with a view of running and contesting for the President of Nigeria under the banner of our great party.”

Going down memory lane, Tambuwal said: “When members of the House of Representatives of the 7th Assembly approached with their desire for me to constest for the position of Speaker, I gave them certain conditions, one of which was that I have leaders – late President Shehu Shagari, former Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko and two others in (Sokoto) state.

“I told them to go to my state and consult with these leaders. If they bless your initiative, I will accept your proposal and contest for the Speaker.

“When they came to Sokoto, President Shehu Shagari of blessed memory admonished them that: ‘if you are putting our son forward as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, your efforts must not be sectional or religious.”

Earlier in his remarks at the meeting, a former deputy governor of the state, Mukhtar Shagari, called on Governor Tambuwal to declare his interest in the presidency.

Shagari, who is also a former minister of Water Resources and a major stakeholder in the party, said it was time for Tambuwal to seek the presidency to rescue Nigeria from misgovernance.

He assured the governor that they were ready to extend their consultations to every part of the country.

Also speaking, Senator Danbaba Danbuwa, representing Sokoto South Senatorial District, who spoke on behalf of the members of the National Assembly from the state, said the time had come for Tambuwal presidency.

He said most of his colleagues in the National Assembly, especially those elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had been calling on him to prevail on the governor to declare for president.

He disclosed that many Senators, irrespective of their political differences, promised to support the governor to become the next elected president in 2023.

In his remarks, a former Minister of Power, Engineer Bello Suleiman, said governor Tambuwal was the most qualified candidate for the job.

He said in terms of experience in governance, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who is also eyeing the PDP ticket, did not have as much experience as Tambuwal in governance.