2019 Presidential race: Atiku appoints Campaign Council

By SUNDAY ODIBASHI

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday, held a consultative meeting to consider appointment of members of the Presidential Campaign Council for the 2019 presidential election.

The Presidential Campaign Council, according to a source at the meeting, comprises of PDP stakeholders and elder statesmen from the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT; members of the divers religious beliefs and ethnic cleavages across the country; as well as youths.

It was further disclosed that various non-partisan associations or social clubs were being considered for inclusion in the Presidential Campaign Council of the Abubakar Atiku Presidential Campaign Organization.

However, it is yet to be ascertained whether the presidential campaign activities would be coordinated from the traditional PDP Presidential Campaign Office at Legacy House, Maitama, Abuja, or the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organization at Wuse II, Abuja. Before the PDP National Convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, all activities were concentrated at the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organization, which is situated about 200 meters away from the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Presidential Campaign Organization, Abuja.

Meanwhile, names and detailed arrangements of the Presidential Campaign Council are expected to be announced soon. Campaign workers and Volunteers Field Canvassers are currently being enlisted at the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organization, and other structures are being installed concomitantly.

Atiku, after winning the PDP presidential primary election on October 7, 2018, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had promised to conduct an all-inclusive campaign, maintaining that he would seek the counsel of PDP leaders and all party stakeholders in the presidential campaign of the party. He maintained that the campaign is a battle for all party members and not for a single individual, and promised to work with everybody for the victory of the PDP in 2019.

Former Vice President Atiku is expected to proceed on a short break after the wide consultations on comprehensive campaign system, and thereafter, resume for the presidential campaign proper which the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared would formally commence on November 18, 2018.