2015: Saraki shelves presidential ambition

Former governor of Kwara State and All Progressives Con­gress (APC) chieftain, Senator Bukola Saraki, has dropped his 2015 presiden­tial ambition.
Saraki, in a statement at the weekend in Abuja premised his decision to withdraw from the race, on the need to avoid the acrimony that trailed party primaries in the country.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment said the main opposition par­ty in the country was too frag­ile to encounter such deep-seated animosity among party chieftains that often character­ized presidential conventions.

“This is the time for every patriotic politician to situate his personal ambition in the context of the country’s over­all interest. I don’t think our party can afford too much in­ternal rancour going into next year’s election.
“I therefore, think some of us need to make the sacrifice and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem of the party.”
Daily Sun checks revealed that with Senator Saraki’s exit from the race, the Leadership Newspapers’ publisher, Sam Nda-Isaiah, is the only aspi­rant from the North-central zone, seeking the presidential ticket in the main opposition party in the country.
Other contenders for the party’s presidential ticket are former presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari; former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar; incumbent Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his Edo State counterpart, Adams Oshiom­hole. Senator Saraki, in his statement, noted that erstwhile PDP chieftains, who dumped the party for the APC had been vindicated with the adoption of President Goodluck Jona­than as the ruling party’s sole candidate for the 2015 presi­dential race. He stated that the PDP had become infested in the personal ambition of one man at the overall detriment of the country and its democracy.
“I have always maintained that I did not leave the ruling party to join the opposition because of any personal inter­est. Anyone who understands Nigeria’s politics would know that it takes courage and self-sacrifice to do that. Therefore, whether it is on the issue of the party or all other issues that I have been pushing in my posi­tion as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I have been driven primarily by my desire to see a better and more purposely governed country.
“We need to change the way the country is run, we need change in our security and the values we place on human life. We need to change the current disgraceful situation and I be­lieve only the APC can bring about this change and give our country the leadership it de­serves.”
He restated his concern that only a presidential conven­tion, devoid of rancour would save the opposition party from  the avoidable distraction to face the general elections as one united family.
“This is why some of us feel that we must make the neces­sary sacrifice and contribute to building a strong and united party that provides the only real alternative to the floun­dering government that has become so constipated with power and lost touch with the realities that ordinary Nigeri­ans grapple with everyday.”
The former Kwara State governor thanked his fam­ily, loyalists, followers and groups across the country that had urged him to join the pres­idential race, “because of their belief that he is the best man to fix Nigeria, most especially, the teeming youths who might feel disappointed as a result of this sacrificial decision.