Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has made up its mind to field a Presidential candidate that is acceptable to the North and South of the Nigerian divide.
This according to a highly placed party source is likely to work in favour of former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who has since indicated interest to run for the highest elective office in the land in the 2019 elections on the platform of the PDP.
In a chat with a foremost Nigerian print media on Wednesday, the source who pleaded anonymity said the party is aware of the difficulty inherent in ousting a ruling party, adding that as a result, only the best and most acceptable candidate would be good enough.
“If you take a look at all the aspirants today, there is no doubt that they are all eminently qualified to rule this country. But the party is aware that it is coming into this contest as an underdog and as such, must avoid every seen and unforeseen pitfalls.
“The Nigeria of today is different from what we had a few years ago. People want jobs and if these aspirants talk job creation today, the people would most likely listen to Atiku the more because he has done quite a lot in this regard (job creation),” he said.
On the reported move to lure Governor Aminu Tambuwal to the party to contest the PDP Presidential primaries, our source said nothing is settled yet, arguing that a lot of factors would come into play in the build up to the primaries.
“You see, Tambuwal was a member of this party before he left for the All Progressives Congress (APC). You will recall that after the historic Supreme Court verdict, the then chairman of our party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi said there was no victor and there was no vanquished.
“He threw the doors of the party opened to all those who left for one reason or the other to return. And the current leadership is doing exactly the same. So, we want Tambuwal and all those who left to return home,” he noted.
