By Bashir Mohammed
Kano
Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano state has said that he was compelled to postpone his formal declaration for the presidency to 28 of this month for lack of venue.
Speaking to newsmen in his office yesterday, Kwankwaso said he had made frantic efforts to secure the Eagle Square or the International Conference Centre for the declaration, but was blatantly denied by those laying claim to the ownership of the venues, adding that he would not hesitate to launch the campaign on the street of Abuja.
He said he was in the business of politics to prove his mettle and that no amount of executive fiat or intimidation at the center could ever suppress his will power to actualise his banning ambition.
When asked to shed more light on whether he was under any pressure to step down for one of the presidential candidates in the APC, Kwankwaso said he was not aware of such a pressure stressing that one had the constitutional right to try his luck in the race for the presidency.
He said: “I am pretty sure that many of the notable kingpins in the political arena are with me and the APC. They are only hooked for one reason or another. But they are ready to join the party against all odds.”
He, however, stated that the struggle for the presidential ticket on the plat form of the APC is free from rancour and less confrontational adding that whoever wins the presidential primaries would be unanimously supported by his fellow presidential hopefuls.
“We have no reason to bicker provided that there is a free and fair primary; we are not going to behave like a small or medium party where people take solace in pettiness and unnecessary gossips. We are matured people we should be expected to play the game according to the rules.”
Kwankwaso, who was emphatic on the presidential primaries, revealed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had effected a negative paradigm shift by taken the decision to hold their primaries in the presidential villa saying the party would fail woefully in the 2015 presidential contest.
He said the APC was formidable and cohesive enough to take a good decision and that the issue of forcing one to accept a sinister design does not arise.
On whether he had anointed the person to succeed him, Kwankwoso said the time was not ripe for speculation, stressing that the APC in Kano would provide a level playing ground for every contestant to prove his efficacy.
“Anybody can buy form and enter the race. If people are really interested in consensus it is okay. But if consensus fails then we go for the primaries that are the beauty of democracy.”
Blueprint recalls that former vice-president Atiku Abubakar declared at the Yar’Adua Centre, while former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) declared at the Eagle Square Abuja.
