Paul Osuyi, Asaba
A former governor of Sokoto State and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Attahiru Bafarawa, has promised to uphold the provisions of the party’s constitution and manifesto if elected into office as president in 2019.
He said if elected president, he would not allow his personal agenda and manifesto to overshadow that of the party, noting that personal interest had always be responsible for friction between a party and an elected president who is supposed to be the custodian of the manifesto and constitution as the leader of the party.
Bafarawa, who spoke in Asaba, Delta State capital, when he met with PDP delegates to the national convention for the presidential primary, appealed to his hosts to consider him in making their decision on who should fly the party’s presidential flag.
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Describing himself as a tested and trusted democrat, Bafarawa said he would strengthen the unity of the country, tackle insecurity, revamp the economy and above all, ensure that the nation is restructured.
Bafarawa who also reeled out his achievements during his eight-year tenure as governor of Sokoto State, said his administration would strike a strategic partnership with state governors to ensure rapid progress and even development across the country.
In his remark, the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, commended the aspirant for meeting with PDP members in the state, and stressed the need for all PDP presidential to hold regular interactions on how to effectively manage the outcome of the presidential primaries.
According to Okowa, “We want to plead that those of you who are leaders at the national level, particularly those of you that are in the presidential race, that there is a need for you to have sessions with yourselves to familiarise yourselves.
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“We are not forcing anybody to step down but, we need to start talking with ourselves on how to manage the post-convention days because, we must come out of that convention strengthened in such a manner that as a family, we will go together complete and focused on the elections.
“It is our hope that there will be other interactions; it may not be with the presidential aspirants but, probably with your coordinators, interactions with those who are already delegates and those who will also, emerge on September 11 as ad-hoc delegates to the national convention.”
He observed that despite the array of aspirants for the presidential position, delegates of the PDP in the state were patiently receiving all of them so as to to assess them and take the best decision in the interest of the country, expressing confidence that the PDP will have a free, fair and acceptable primaries.
