Ahmed Makarfi, interim national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says Atiku Abubakar, former vice president, did not give any conditions before rejoining the party.
Atiku left the PDP in 2013 for the All Progressives Congress (APC), which won the 2015 presidential election.
He announced his departure from the ruling party and his rejoining of the PDP on Sunday.
Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, Makarfi’s spokesman, said on Wednesday that the former vice president did not ask for any concession before rejoining the party.
He said this while reacting to reports that he, Markafi, had interest in running for president under the PDP flag.
“The attention of Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi has been drawn to reports in some sections of the media, which seem to suggest that he has confirmed an interest in seeking to fly the flag of PDP in 2019. This is not a very true reflection of what the distinguished senator gave out in a chat with some newsmen couple of days ago,” he said.
The fact is the senator was asked what threat the return of Atiku Abubakar to the party portended to the aspirations of others who had either made their intentions known or those, who, like him were rumoured to be nursing such ambition. His answer was that Atiku’s return would not, in any way adversely affect the rights of any member of the party to aspire to any position, adding that there was no preconditions to the return as Atiku Abubakar did not ask for, neither did the party offer any concessions to him beforehand.
“Senator Ahmed Makarfi wishes to assure the teeming members and supporters of the PDP and indeed the entire country that his own major preoccupation at the moment is to discharge the responsibility given to him to lead the process of repositioning the party, which he hopes will culminate in the conduct of a very credible and transparent convention this Saturday. This is what matters the most to him at this moment.”
Nigeria’s next presidential election will take place in 2019, political realignment and alliances are expected in the build-up to the election.
