Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, yesterday made a U-turn on his stand that he will not support consensus if his party decides to choose it a method of selecting its candidate for the Presidential election in 2015.
Kwankwaso who was in the Senate yesterday to solicit for support from the members of the Red Chamber said he wouldn’t mind a consensus agreement if his party decides to use it to select its Presidential flag bearer provided it will give the party a credible candidate to fly its flag.
Speaking Kwankwaso said; “People are worried and very much concerned about the issue of primary. Let me tell you that our constitution has provided for consensus. It has also provided for election.
“For those of us who came from the Peoples Democratic Party, we know the advantages and disadvantages of primary election. However, if you look at it critically from 1999 to 2011, every election year, PDP was having primary, even when we had a sitting President in 2003 and 2011, we had primary elections.
“All other parties were not doing primary election in the actual sense of it. They sit down and look at faces and say, ‘you, do this’; that is a guess work. Yes, maybe he is number one here but when you go to the field, he may not be number one.
“That is why I am personally calling for a consensus. However, if it doesn’t happen, I believe primary election is so good for the party. We have seen that since we have quite a number of aspirants, all of us are working; everybody is working very hard, especially those of us from the PDP.”
Speaking on Senator Mark’s Leadership, Kwankwanso, said Mark’s leadership of the Nation Assembly is as “powerful and responsible,” as he added that though he had yet to formally declare his interest in the presidential race, he was in the National Assembly to see the President of the Senate, members and other officers of both chambers as part of his consultation.
In his response David Mark said; “It is completely impossible for me to support you. Good as your wishes may be, I can’t grant them. The PDP is the correct platform to contest election and I have always advised the senators so. If you don’t make it in your new party, feel free to come back to us because you have always belonged to this side.”
