From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff, has boasted that he is the most qualified rugged captain among other aspirants to sail the ship of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the incoming national chairman.
He further argued that with him on the saddle, the ruling party has the capacity to be in power for 30 to 50 years, announcing that he has already commenced effective consultation to sell his aspiration to the party stakeholders across the country.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja over the weekend, to formally declare his intention to contest, he said that his first task would be to mobilise party members to show they are capable of matching President Muhammadu Buhari’s 12 million votes.
“I have been going around the country, making consultations and discussing with leaders of the party before I will come formally to tell the world my intention and aspiration to the office of the National Chairman.
“Our party, the APC, you all know that today as a political party, is about six and half years. It is a combination of different political parties that became APC and we also know that our President Buhari even before coming into the APC had already made 12 million votes from the ANPP days and CPC days.
“He brought that to the table and what are we going to face after the exit of the President? It is we the APC members that will tell the world that we are capable of getting their trust even when he finished his tenure.
“Doing that, you need everybody. You need people who know the history of the party, where we are coming from, who know the history of this country, someone who has been in different aspects of life and we need to work together, we need to build bridges across the country.
“Today, as a party we are only six years in government, our aspirations are for the APC to be in government in the next 30 to 40 years. Doing that doesn’t come on the platter of gold, we need to put in hard work. Therefore, I believe it is important for me to reach out to all leaders of our party; the youths, the women, different organizations to tell them that we must come together to get our party to run for the next 30, 40, 50 years by the grace of God.
“And doing that you need a rugged captain, you don’t need a captain that will capsize. A ship has to be navigated by a knowledgeable person who knows the water and I believe I can do that for our party if given the opportunity by party men and women who are the decision-makers.
“There are so many people in the field but you can look at everybody and see where you can put your deposit. We don’t want a bank that will collapse after a short period. So, I have been going around the country. After you leave now, I will travel again. I just came in last night. I have been away, traveling from one state to the other and I will continue doing that until everybody in our party is consulted.
“I meet them in their homes to say that, yes I want to run for the National Chairmanship of this party and I believe I can lead us well because party politics is different,” he noted.