Former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido declares that he will run for president in 2019

FORMER Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido has revealed that he will contest for the presidency of Nigerian come 2019 on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when the race begins.

 

In 2014, Governor Lamido ran for the presidential ticket of the PDP, seeking the party's nomination against President Goodluck Jonathan. Speaking yesterday in his village of Bamaina in Birnin-Kudu Local Government Area of the state, Governor Lamido said, however, that a party’s ticket cannot be given to anybody on the platter of gold, adding that a candidate must earn it.

 

Governor Lamido added: “If my party finds me worthy of the party’s presidential ticket to serve Nigeria, I will thank God and oblige. Although there are issues in the party that we are all working to resolve, we hope to have success soon and come out united.

 

“As I’m talking to you now, we are working silently to resolve our differences and bring back to our fold those who left the party for All Progressives Congress (APC). What happened in 2015 has opened the eyes of Nigerians as they have lost faith in the APC and from what we have seen, it is obvious that Nigerians were deceived."

 

He blamed the internal crisis in the PDP as the reason for its defeat in 2015 general election but added that the party had the capacity to rule the country again, however, pointing out the members must work hard to achieve that. Governor Lamido also denied any rift between him and his successor Governor Muhammad Badaru of the APC, stating that both of them had mutual respect for each other and he had no differences with him other than political ideologies.

 

Governor Lamido added: “They have seen the truth and they are back to their original party, so the false stories of 2015 will no longer be accepted and come 2019, PDP will bounce back to power. I am going back to the Niger Delta to tell the people that PDP is fully rooted in the north.”

 

He said that PDP would provide answers to the developmental needs of Nigerians. APC officials, however, have challenged Governor Lamido to tell Nigerians what exactly it is he has in stock for Nigerians.

 

Osita Okechukwu, the APCs spokesman for the southeast geopolitical zone, described Governor Lamido’s declaration as a welcome development. However, he said the former governor has to tell Nigerians what his party could not do while in office for 16 years that he is coming back to correct.