A two-term governor of Borno State, Northeast Nigeria, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has joined the race for the National Chairman of the All-Progressives Congress (APC).
Senator Sheriff who declared his intention while speaking with journalists in Abuja said the APC needs to work hard to select the right leaders for it to stay in power for the next 40 years.
Senator Sheriff noted that APC needs a national chairman like himself who is rugged and experienced to run the party to success especially as President Muhamadu Buhari’s tenure as president will soon be expiring.
“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.
“It is a combination of different political parties that became APC and we also know that our President Muhammadu 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 His Excellency, 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” Sheriff said.
While stressing the need for APC to have a National Chairman that can build bridges and relationships, Senator Sheriff noted that amongst all the aspirants for the position, he is the only one with combined experience as a state governor, former party chairman and Senator.
A date for the APC National Convention where a national chairman would be selected has not been released by the party yet.
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However, other contenders for the positions are Abdul Aziz Yari (former Zamfara State Governor), Kashim Shettima (former Borno governor), Tanko Al-Makura (former Nasarawa State governor), George Akume( Former Benue governor), and Danjuma Goje (former Gombe governor).
Also, other aspirants in the race include a former chieftain of the defunct CPC from Kwara State, Mustapha Salihu, Sunny Moniedafe from Adamawa State and a Senator representing Niger East, Mohammed Sani Musa.
Zainab Sa’id
