The Governor of Kano State, northwest Nigeria, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has declared his intention to run for the highest office in Nigeria on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
P.M.NEWS exclusively gathered from a reliable source that the Kano State Governor declared his presidential ambition in a meeting he held with members of the House of Representatives from his state days ago.
It was learnt further that the Kano Governor also sought the cooperation and support of the Reps members in wooing their colleagues to his side since the presidential primary of the party is going to be done directly involving all members of the party.
Already, the Kano Reps members have not only pledged their support for the presidential ambition of their governor, they have also swung into action talking to their colleagues from other states on the need to support the governor’s ambition.
P.M.NEWS findings revealed that Kwankwaso has a bright chance due to his political experience and also favoured by the zoning arrangement of the party which investigation revealed may have decided to zone its presidential ticket to the northwest zone of the country.
Meanwhile, the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC has worked out the guidelines for its presidential primary election slated for later in the year.
Leaders of the party from the northwest geopolitical zone. it was gathered, have started making moves to ensure that the presidential ticket of the party is clinched by a candidate from the north.
The party had disclosed that it would adopt the modified direct primaries to pick its presidential candidate in October ahead of the 2015 general elections.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, while speaking with newsmen at the end of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held recently, said that the model would ensure even participation of members from across the country.
He explained that the primaries, which would be staggered, would involve elected officials of the party from across the 36 states of the federation and those aspiring for governorship, national and state assemblies, and local council seats.
Justifying the adoption of the modified direct primaries, which could attract at least 300,000 delegates, he said it was aimed at ensuring that whoever emerges the party’s flag bearer enjoys the support of Nigerians.
Apart from guaranteeing full participation, openness and fairness, the model would make it difficult for any moneybag to buy up all delegates’ votes, he added.
According to him,“we would want to ensure the participation of a large section of our people.
“We have opted for what we call modified direct primaries for the party. We call it modified because we are conscious of getting all our 20 million members to queue up, especially in areas where we have security challenges like Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states. So we are working on a formula that would enable the largest members of our party to participate.
“What I can assure is that we are not settling for delegates election. We want the grassroots to be involved in our primaries. We want to show the world that we are different, that our party is not only grassroots inspired but that it would also be free and fair,” he averred.
He stated that the outcome of the primaries would subsequently be ratified at the party’s national convention.
