Chief Mrs Remi Adiukwu-Bakare, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic party has said that President Muhammadu Buhari can be defeated in the upcoming 2019 general elections.
Bakare, while responding to a question from Sun, on whether her party can produce a candidate that can beat Buhari at the polls, said;
“Yes, PDP can and will stop President Buhari in 2019. But that is if we present the right candidate through a transparent process. It is not enough for PDP to just say it will stop Buhari or displace APC. We need to know that it has a lot to do with the candidate and the process. We must do everything within our power to get it right in the manner we choose our candidate and the pedigree of the candidate will also count.
Now that PMB has declared his interest to seek a re-election, I can assure you that the various interests within PDP know what we are now up against and will ensure we don’t have a repeat of why we are where we are today. As a party, we have learnt our lessons and as individuals we are more amenable to ensuring that the process is allowed to go smoothly this time around.
Who were mostly responsible for Buhari’s success in 2015? They were the young people who felt their future could be better by his emergence as President. Today we have an unbelievable registration of new voters almost 8million and mostly our youths. These young people are the very people PDP is relying on to return it to power. We believe they are now better informed.
Now they are clamouring for new breeds of leaders. They are asking for something different in the administration of this country and I think my generation should hearken to their demands in 2019. We have those who can lead this nation to greatness in quantum but they may not have the kind of money needed to pursue such ambition. In this clime, money is the language of politics.”
She went further;
“We have people who can wrest power from Buhari in our party in 2019. Yes, we do. How can anybody say there’s nobody in PDP who can wrest power from Buhari in 2019? We have several aspirants jostling to pick the ticket of our party as we speak. PDP is still the most attractive opposition party in the country today. Tell me which other party people are looking up to? It is the PDP.
We also know this and that is why we are working round the clock to ensure that we rally the opposition ahead of the 2019 elections. PDP is still the strongest political party in Nigeria and the people know this. From the north to the south, all those who are not pleased with the current administration are ready to work with the PDP to bring about a change in 2019.”
Bakare also revealed the type of candidate that was needed to ensure victory at the polls. She said;
“What type of candidate? Nigeria needs a young, vibrant, well educated and urbane man or woman. In my sincere opinion, there is need for us to join the global trend of electing urbane and vibrant leaders. The young ones must be giving hope. We must begin to consider age and strength in electing our leaders. We have numerous youths doing well in their various fields.
A person who knows Nigeria well and can relate with all tribes, a bridge builder and a detribalised character, a new face entirely different from all the old and recycled materials we have jostling for the position now. He or she should be between the age of 45 years and 55 years. This is my dream candidate for PDP. This is the picture in my mind of the president we need now.
The man or woman must not carry any baggage in terms of pending litigations on corruption. His or her sources of income must be transparently traceable. Nigerians are now wiser than before. They will not want to have a candidate struggling to free himself from the EFCC forced on them by any political party in this new dispensation.”
