A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, has said he is neither too young nor too old to run for Nigeria’s presidency by 2023.
Tambuwal, speaking during his meeting with PDP former Ministers Forum, in Abuja on Thursday, described himself as the perfect bridge between the old and younger generations of the country.
“By the grace of God I am in the middle, not too old to run and not too young not to run.
“So, I see that bridge that is all around, not too far from the youth and not too far away from the elderly and that is the bridge that Nigeria is looking for today that will unify this country.
Tambuwal also advised the party to be more interested in who it could sell to the electorate as candidate to win the 2023 presidential election which he said that he represented.
He said that the only way to rescue the country was for the PDP to produce a candidate who understood the country well through its national convention.
“What is key for PDP is a candidate that we can all work to sell together, a candidate that we can all want to sell together.
“I believe I am that candidate that we can all work to sell together and win this election.
“What is important for PDP is to be able to win elections, not where the person is coming from.”
Tambuwal said that having served as Reps Speaker, a member of the life bencher of the Judiciary and second term governor of Sokoto State he understood he had all it takes to rescue the country.
He said that Nigeria needed a candidate with the understanding of the dynamics of the country, with affiliations, associations and friendships across the length and breadth of the country.
“I can assure you that I have the understanding of the Nigeria situation today. I have the federal administrative experience.
“Yes, I was more in the legislature, but it is a federal government and I understand the nuances and what issues are in governance.”
He also explained why he left the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 and came back to the PDP in 2018.
Tambuwal said it was not because he had personal disagreement with any of former President Goodluck Jonathan or President Muhammadu Buhari, but with some of their policies.
“It is all about this country, nothing personal and nothing selfish. It is about altruism, patriotism and building our country together.”
Chairman of the forum and former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, described 2023 elections as serious business for Nigeria considering the issues of insecurity, leadership failure and injustice.
He said that the forum believed that there was the need for Nigeria to have a leader capable of building strong bridges of friendship across the various divides.
“We need a hybrid kind of leader that will be a little bit to the left and a little bit to the right, while maintaining his stand in the centre.
“We need a leader that is cosmopolitan; we need a leader that can listen to advice; we need a leader that can wield respect of other People.
“We need a leader that while sitting on top of the executive arm of government will also have respect for other arms of government.
“We need a leader, above all, that has proved himself as being capable of aggregating diverse people, diverse opinions and then leading them together without compromising the efficacy of democracy and democratic rule.”
Turaki said that as former ministers they considered themselves as critical stakeholders in producing the candidate of the party.