Lawan to Delegates: Choose a Leader with Absolutely No Baggage

•South-east leaders endorse senate president

Deji Elumoye and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, wrote to delegates of the party to canvass for votes at the presidential primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) scheduled for next week in Abuja, and urged them to choose a leader with “absolutely no baggage”.

This is as leaders of the APC from the South-east, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari and other party leaders to endorse the Senate President as the presidential standard bearer of the party.

In a letter personally signed by him, Lawan, with humility, asked for the delegates’ votes so that he could emerge the APC Presidential standard bearer for the 2023 presidential election.

The letter read: “My Dear APC Party Delegates, Compliments of the season. Permit me to write to you through this medium. As we converge at this great time, in this great party to begin the journey of determining the future of this great nation, we must be cognizant of the fact that the fate of Nigeria fluctuates.

“While democracy asserts that the Nigerian voting public determines the person to emerge as president, however, in advance of that, the party delegates are saddled with the task of nominating the flag bearers. This communication is an appeal to all APC delegates as the party prepares for its presidential primaries.

“I am reaching out to every single one of you APC delegates to plead with you to put ‘Nigeria First’ and give thought to the future of 215,763,437 (million) Nigerians, a lot of whom will appreciate the sagacious determination you will make during this process. I am reaching out to you, with humility, to ask for your votes so that I can emerge as the APC Presidential flag bearer for the 2023 Nigerian Presidential election.

“At this point, it is not lost on me that we must come together as one party and as one nation, for we have a great deal to mend, to rehabilitate, to reinstall and so much more to achieve. We have a unique chance to measure up to every expectation and show Nigeria and the world that democracy triumphs. And that journey shall start during the APC Presidential Primary Election process.

“To all delegates across Nigeria, I beseech you to put pecuniary and monetary incentives aside and seriously consider what is ‘in the greater good.’ As you make your decision in picking the flag bearer of our party, I urge you to seek for a leader and not a politician. I ask you to choose a person that will lead and not rule Nigerians; one that will be understanding, tolerant, fair, honest, and progressive. A leader that comes with absolutely ‘No-Baggage’.

“A vital component of any logical, efficient and authentic evaluation of a person involves assessing past behaviour. The key here is that one’s best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. If one has always done something a certain way, they are likely to do that same thing in the same manner in the future.

“The same goes for how one navigates or pillages in leadership. Thus, as you, the delegates, are determining the APC party presidential flag bearer, it is important to look at past behaviour to elicit what behaviours, avarice and rapacity candidates have exhibited in the past. It is important for you to assess all candidates along this parameter.

“Dear delegates, look for a leader that will not buy your votes but one that is prepared to sell and deliver your dreams. I promise you that I will be that leader. I am prepared to offer you myself and my heart, my integrity, my dedication and my might.

“I want to offer you a dream of justice for all, a dream of uniting to fight the foes we face, a dream of unity under one single ideal, common purpose, common endeavor and resolve; a dream to right the wrongs of our past, a dream of work, employment, functioning safe schools, security, electricity, infrastructure, stable economy, compassion for citizenry, technology, opportunity and so much more that Nigerians desire.

“I will give you my all, thinking not of power, but of possibility and the public good. I want you to take my hand so that together, we can show the Nigerian story of hope, unity, tolerance, healing, principle, greatness and goodness. I want you to take my hand so that together we can learn from history, embrace faith and find a way to unify Nigeria and take her into the future. We are at an extraordinary historic moment both in APC and in Nigeria and our unity is the path forward.”

However, the leaders under the auspices of South-east Front, spoke about their endorsement after an emergency meeting held in Abuja, where they said APC was left with no option but to take a cue from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which picked its candidate, Atiku Abubakar from the North-east.

In a communique signed by Chief Sam Nkire and 24 other APC chieftains, they noted that it would be fair and just for the APC to settle for Lawan as its standard bearer since he also hails from the same geopolitical zone of the country as Atiku.

“After an extensive analysis of the political developments in Nigeria today with a view to the outcome of the PDP Primary election a few days ago, the mood of the nation and of course the expectation of our people that power would shift to the Southern part of Nigeria in 2023,where even our Southwest and South-south brothers would have had the conscience to cede the contest of the Nigeria’s President to the South East considering the enormous sacrifices the South East had made in support of both zones, who took a shot at the presidency at different times since 1999.

“It has become apparent that PDP has once again laid ambush for our party the All Progressives Congress (APC) by choosing its candidate from the North East instead of the South East. We believe that this is compelling and still within the confines of equity and fairness considering the fact that neither North East nor South Eastern parts of the country had produced a president in the history of our country.

“With this power convolution in mind, we the people of the Southeast do hereby call on our amiable President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), our great party the All Progressives Congress (APC), all delegates to the presidential primary election to consider and choose Senator Dr. Ahmed Lawan as the candidate of our party for the 2023 Presidential Election, being that the PDP has chosen it’s Presidential candidate from the North East Zone.”