The interim National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Ahmed Makarfi has distanced himself from media reports linking him with a presidential ambition in the 2019 elections.
The former Kaduna state governor made this known in a Wednesday statement signed by his media aide, Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, Vanguard reported.
Makarfi reportedly said his immediate concern is the repositioning of the nation’s largest opposition party.
The statement read: “The attention of Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi has been drawn to reports in some sections of the media, which seem to suggest that he has confirmed an interest in seeking to fly the flag of PDP in 2019.
“This is not a very true reflection of what the senator gave out in a chat with some newsmen a couple of days ago.
“The fact is the senator was asked what threat the return of Atiku Abubakar to the party portended to the aspirations of others who had either made their intentions known or those, who, like him were rumoured to be nursing such ambition.
“His answer was that Atiku’s return would not, in any way, adversely affect the rights of any member of the party to aspire to any position.
“He said there was no preconditions to the return as Atiku Abubakar did not ask for, neither did the party offer any concessions to him beforehand.
“Senator Ahmed Makarfi wishes to assure the teeming members and supporters of the PDP and, indeed, the entire country that his own major preoccupation at the moment is to discharge the responsibility given to him to lead the process of repositioning the party, which he hopes will culminate in the conduct of a very credible and transparent convention this Saturday. This is what matters the most to him at this moment.”