2019 Election: Despite Atiku, I Could Still Seek PDP Presidential Ticket – Makarfi

The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Caretaker Committee, Ahmed Makarfi, has said he could still contest the party’s presidential ticket in spite of the defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to the party. In an interview in the current edition of The Interview magazine, Mr. Makarfi said, “Atiku left before, he’s on his way back before the (party’s) Convention.”

In response to a question about his own interest, Mr. Makarfi said, “I have heard the rumour, it has been there since 2007…I have thought of it. By the time I leave as caretaker committee chairman on 9th or 10th, there’ll still be ten months to the party primaries. By any law or the party’s guidelines, I’m not excluded.”

Apart from his comment on the build up of interest in the party’s presidential ticket, Mr. Makarfi also said the PDP was expecting a harvest of defections, after Mr. Abubakar’s move from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. “For some strategic reasons,” he said, “don’t expect a lot of people to move to the PDP now. People are in APC for different reasons. Wait for the time when everybody will be on his own, you will see the influx of people into the PDP.”

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