By Saidu Idris
365Daily – Former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has become the second presidential aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to purchase the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms for the presidential race.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, had earlier procured his through a proxy group.
Saraki, who is also a former governor of Kwara state, disclosed that a group of young professionals contributed money to buy the forms that cost N40m for his presidential race.
The forms, according to him, were presented to him in his Abuja home on Monday, March 21, 2022.
This is coming on the heels of the release of the names of members of the zoning committee set up by the PDP to resolve the contentious issue of the zone to produce the next presidential candidate in the party ahead of the general elections.
Saraki and two other aspirants from the North, Governors Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi states, had also earlier announced their willingness to adopt a consensus arrangement to pick an aspirant from the zone.
But making disclosure about procurement of his nomination form, Saraki said he would now fight twice as hard to achieve his goal.
He said: “Last night, I was truly touched by the gesture of the young professionals convened by Abubakar Danmusa, who helped to raise the N40 million for my Presidential Expression of Interest Form and my Nomination Form.
“These young people, who went out of their way to rally their friends, family, and coworkers, made contributions of N500,000 to N2 million to reach their desired goal.
“This symbolic gesture, a first of its kind in the history of our nation, is also a challenge to me. Now, I promise to work twice as hard as I originally intended. I promise to meet the yearning and aspirations of all our young people to run a modern government that can achieve sustainable development.
“As it stands, this is a clarion call. This is why, I make this promise — not out of politics or propaganda— but out of the fervent belief that young people have a role to play in the development of our nation:
“When I become President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 29th of May 2023, all the Ministers of State in my Cabinet will be experienced young people who are under the age of 35.
“Yes, we have our work cut out for us. But the battle to #FixNigeria has just started!”