Former Kano State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, has declared that former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, can’t stop him from clinching the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in 2019. Accordingly, the former governor boosted that he was not only battle ready for the 2019 Presidential election, but has what it takes beat allother contenders to clinch the ticket.
Shekarau, who was upbeat about his chances of defeating other contenders for the ticket, was emphatic that he has enough clout to overwhelm whatever Atiku may come with during the contest. Shekarau, who had earlier informed the PDP and various stakeholders of his intention to contest for the presidency in 2019, said he was more than ready to throw his hat into the ring against Atiku.
Speaking through his media aide, Sule Ya’u Sule, the 2011 presidential candidate on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) insisted both himself and his teeming supporters are battle ready. “We are battle ready. We ran in 2003 for governorship, we had no money, but we won. We ran in 2007 for a second term, and despite the odds against us, God made it possible. “We have run for the presidency before and so we are not threatened by Atiku’s return to the PDP. Ultimately it is the electorate that will decide.
“We rely on God and not anyone else. We are in the race, there is no going back”, he said confident that without the huge warchest he was capable of garnering enough delegates’ votes at the PDP Presidential Primaries. Blueprint newspaper recalls that the likes of Atiku Abubakar, Ibrahim Shekarau, Sule Lamido, Senator Ahmed Makarfi , and Gov Hassan DanKwambo, among other prominent names are rumoured to be interested in vying the PDP presidential ticket
