A group of young professionals and business people have purchased the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms for former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to contest for the presidential ticket of the party.
The leader of the group, Abubakar Danmusa, while speaking at the occasion, in Abuja, on Monday, said the current state of national challenges prompted them to look for a candidate that would make a better President in 2023.
He said: “Thus, after extensive deliberations, we have concluded that the situation of our country is so far from what it should be if we have the right leadership. The country is not running as a functional entity that can bring the best out of her citizens and provide the best for the generality of the people.
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“We are particularly unhappy that the country is not providing the right atmosphere for the millions of its youths to serve as agents of development. Instead, many of our compatriots are being forced to go into negative activities because the system is not encouraging them to utilise their positive potentials.
“It is for these reasons that we concluded that we should not leave the process leading to the emergence of the next President of our country to only politicians. We have decided to get involved right from the pre-primary election period. We are determined to ensure that only good, solid, forward-looking, and visionary candidates emerge to vie for the February 2023 presidential elections.
“We want candidates who understand the needs of the business group and can initiate policies, programmes, and projects that will encourage the growth of businesses, particularly, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).
“We want a candidate that will create a synergy between the private and business sectors. We want a man who will naturally earn the respect of the international community and the confidence of foreign and local investors and get them to establish factories and businesses”.
Speaking after receiving the forms from the group, Saraki promised that if elected, he would ensure that all his cabinet posts are occupied by youths.
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He said: “What you have done is a symbolic message that you are mandating me to go out to the field and work hard among all our leaders, delegates, and other stakeholders to win the PDP presidential ticket come May as well as subsequently follow up with decisive victory in the general elections in February 2023.
“Looking at the diversity that all of you gathered here represent, another symbolic message I will take away is that as far as the youths are concerned, what we need to develop in Nigeria is not where people come from or what religion they subscribe to. It is about having the competence, determination, and patriotism to initiate good measures and have the courage of conviction to follow through with the plans”.