7th August, 2018
As PDP presidential aspirants intensify efforts to secure the party’s ticket ahead of the 2019 general elections, Gombe governor Ibrahim Dankwambo on Monday visited Kaduna to solicit the support of the party’s delegates in the North-West zone.
Dankwambo, who announced his desire to challenge for the nation’s top job at the weekend, met with the zone’s statutory delegates and urged them to support his bid for the party’s ticket.
Describing himself as a “serious contender”, Dankwambo said that the North-West Zone was his first port of call because it was “very crucial to success in the presidential race”.
“There are more than 18 million voters in the northwest geopolitical zone. No serious presidential contender can toy with such mass of voters.
“The zone also has a large number of delegates for the PDP primaries,” he noted, adding that its votes would determine who would fly the PDP ticket in 2019.
The governor urged the delegates to vote for him during the primary elections, saying that he had the popularity to win the secondary elections.
He urged the delegates to prevail on qualified Nigerians to acquire the Permanent Voter Cards(PVC) to enable them to vote in the 2019 general polls which he said were “very important” to Nigeria and Nigerians.
Dankwambo urged the delegates to constantly remind PDP supporters of the August deadline for the PVC given by INEC, noting that the PVC was a major instrument that would determine the nation’s direction.
The Zonal Vice Chairman of the PDP, Ibrahim Kazaure, the Party’s National Secretary, Umar Ibrahim Tsauri, State Chairmen and Secretaries of the party in Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto and Katsina attended the event.
Dankwambo’s rivals for the PDP presidential ticket include former Kaduna Governor Ahmed Makarfi, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal.
Others include two former governors of Kano State – Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso and Ibrahim Shekarau, former Sokoto Governor Attahiu Bafarawa, among others.