PDP Presidential Ticket : Anyim, Bala Mohammed Submit Forms

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The quest for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continued as two leading aspirants,  Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and the Governor of Bauchi states,  Senator Bala Mohammed yesterday returned their completed presidential nomination forms to the party.

Also, moments after submitting his president nomination forms,  Anyim engaged the National Working Committee (NWC) in a meeting where he urged the party not to jettison zoning.

Speaking during his meeting with the NWC of the PDP. Anyim, said:  “If I appear before you today without touching on the raging issues of zoning in our party, my presentation will not be complete.

“As a true party man, I will abide by the decision of the party. However, I would want to put the following on record: Democracy thrives on three ‘certainties’: Certainty of tenure, Certainty of structure , Certainty of process. “At anytime, any of these ‘certainties’ is no longer guaranteed, democracy will corrupt justice and enthrone inequity.

“Accordingly, my appeal is that zoning being a fundamental principle of our party should not be jettisoned.

Democracy, being a system of rules and order, depends on strong institutions for its sustenance and success.

“When a system can no longer defend its rules, it will enthrone the reign of might as against the rule of law,”, Anyim the NWC of the PDP.

He appealed to the PDP to defend its constitution.

According to the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, “My appeal is that PDP should defend Sec. 7 (3) (c) of its constitution.”

Speaking of his vision and competence as presidential aspirant of the party, the former senate president said. “My vision is to build a Nigeria all of us shall be proud of. In my entire public service career, I worked only in the presidency:As a civil servant in two parastatals in the presidency.

“As president of the Senate, I worked alongside a president. As Secretary to the Government of the Federation, I functioned as the engine room of the presidency in the glorious PDP administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.”

Anyim, who told the PDP that he joined the PDP in 1998 and trained as a lawyer said, “My experience is cognate, my city is proven, my nationalist disposition is established and my knowledge of our country is profound. 

“If you give me the ticket of our great party, I shall surely win the general election and return to Government as President to continue the truncated good work, PDP was doing for the country.”  

His manifesto, which he termed “Pathway to a Greater Nigeria”, Anyim said:  “From the vantage positions I have held, I understand the challenges confronting our nation today and I have clarity of what the solutions could be.

“The purpose of my being here today is to present to you my informed pathway to rebuilding and refocusing our country on the part of growth, peace and prosperity.

 “Let me say that my presentation is not a manifesto as I shall implement the party manifest but my personal pathway to give meaning to our party manifesto. I shall outline my understanding of the problems and my evidence-informed pathway to resolving them under three broad categorizations:Political, Economic and Social integration”he explained.

The former senate president said that in formulating political policies for greater Nigeria, “my administration shall take into consideration the following challenges of our time. The greatest challenge of our nationhood today is the lack of consensus on:- the structure of our nation-The governance system- and National ideals or aspiration.”

He said that he made bold to  say that the absence of consensus on these areas account for the disunity and mutual suspicion that threaten our country today.

According to Anyim, “At the formation of our nation (Union) there were lots of negotiations, constitutional conferences and even the Willinks Commission to allay the fears of the minority tribes. The lesson here is that the buy-in-of all component segments of the nation is required to build the nation.

“Given that democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, therefore, any policy of government that does not have the buy-in of the people is not likely to succeed. This accounts for the failure of several attempts to advance our nation”, he explained .

He explained that as part of Nigeria  political consolidation process, that he shall provide a platform for broad-based consultations and frank dialogue on a generally acceptable new foundation for the nation.

“We shall put the machinery in place to harvest the views and secure the buy-in of all components of our polity and build consensus on:- the structure of the federation – an acceptable governance system and- benchmark agreed national aspiration to which all shall commit and that consensus building shall be the hallmark of his  administration.

He further said,:  “We shall deploy a visionary leadership style that shall respond to the aspirations of the people.

In view of this,  Anyim said that there will be an  anticipated outcome, while  mutual suspicion will be eliminated and ensure  unity of purpose and patriotism will be inspired.

According to Anyim,  “In developing our economic policies, we shall take cognizance of the following:

That the oil economy will become unsustainable in the next 15 years.

That the role of government in the 21st century should appropriately be to promote market-based solutions.

“That the advent of the 4th industrial revolution, has refocused the world economic direction on, knowledge, talent, and innovation

“That arising from the 4th industrial revolution there will be an upscale of artificial intelligence and as a result, automation will displace many jobs and disruptive technologies and innovations will restructure the mode and factors of production.”  he stated

Also yesterday,  Bala Mohammed after submitting his presidential nomination form met the NWC of the party, the Board of Trustees and the Senate and the House of Representatives caucus of the PDP