2019: We cannot afford to produce a wrong candidate – PDP Presidential Aspirant, Makarfi

A Presidential Aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, has warned the party to avoid the mistake of choosing the wrong candidate which will get it swallowed in self-confidence with the  belief that it would clinch victory in next year’s presidential election without proper homework.

Makarfi, who is former National Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the post-government PDP, said gave this warning while addressing delegates in the Enugu State chapter of the party in Enugu on Friday.

He emphasized that it would be wrong for the party to give its presidential ticket to a candidate that could not be entrusted with the hopes and expectations of millions of Nigerians, adding that, “Where we’re making a choice, we must make a choice among those we know. We cannot afford to err, we make one mistake this time and we’re in for it. We must not assume that we can pick any candidate and make a mistake that we will live to regret.”

The former Senator apparently was speaking from the sideline of the fact that he was the best for the party as flagbearer at a time that the former ruling party has been in serious confusion as to who in the entire 19 states of Northern Nigeria is capable of over-running the popularity and integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently the Leader of Nigeria and of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

While it is of general knowledge locally and globally that Buhari is like the god of Northern Nigerian Politics, Makarfi told his PDP audience that he was in Enugu to intimate the delegates on his intention to contest for the party’s presidential ticket in next year’s election using restructuring that his party was said to have failed to do in 16 years as tool for garnering their support.

He said: “The problem of Nigeria is restructuring, we must restructure Nigeria. Restructuring is the policy of the PDP. The policy of the PDP is to restructure Nigeria for the benefit of all Nigerians. When we’re talking about restructuring, we must not forget institutional restructuring. We cannot have public institutions answerable to one political leader. Even INEC needs to be restructured, we have to find a way of having political parties represented in INEC. Any time INEC is about to do something that contradicts the norms, the parties can say no, this is not the way.”

Markafi, who described his visit to Enugu as a homecoming, having attended Federal Government College, Enugu in the 1970s, added that his government would also restructure electricity generation and distribution to ensure that the rot in the system is completely eradicated.

The state PDP chairman, Mr. Augustine Nnamani, said Makarfi represents intelligence, energy and integrity.