2015: Group Prevails On Saraki To Join Presidential Race

Bukola-SarakiFormer governor of Kwara State now Sena­tor representing Kwara Central, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has been urged to join the 2015 presidential race to provide dynamic leadership for the youths and the nation as a whole.

The call was made in Lagos Wednesday by leaders of a socio-political group known as New Ni­geria Movement (NNM).

In a statement signed by Dr. Lekan Akinwunmi, Mr. Uche Ogbonna and Mallam Musa Abubakar, national president, secretary and director of pub­licity of the body respectively, the NNM said: “This call has become necessary following our rigorous assessment of Ni­geria’s leaders across the coun­try and party affiliations. Our conclusion is that Dr. Bukola Saraki, who has successfully served as a state governor for eight years and now a senator, best suits our search criteria. That is, he is a bridge between the old and the new generation of politicians; he is a bridge be­tween the North and the South, he is a bridge between the ex­ecutive and the legislature, he is a bridge between the private and public sectors and above all, he controls a large politi­cal network that cuts across the country with a generational foundation”.

The group said it would en­courage the former Kwara governor to join the race, hence the need to go public with its call. The NNM lead­ers argued that they were con­vinced that Saraki would heed their call because of his love for Nigeria.

“We recall that Senator Saraki today represents the face of the young generation of Nigerian leaders asking for generational change in leader­ship. Because of his age, we are bold to say that he has been an influential state governor for eight years, chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum with an enviable foundation in the private sector and today a serving senator.

“He has been a dominant factor in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and he is now a formidable force in the major opposition party, the All Progressives Party (APC) that stands a good chance to form the next Federal Govern­ment”, the group said.

The statement also urged the leadership of APC not to see last weekend’s defeat of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State as a setback for pro­gressive politics, but as a chal­lenge to stand firm against the forces of oppression, intimida­tion and retrogression ahead of the general elections in 2015.