….promises to tackle security challenge
By Haruna Salami
The Senate President and presidential aspirant under the All Progressive Congress, Ahmad Lawan has given reasons why he believes he has what it take to be president of Nigeria.
According to him he has served in various capacities with different types of people in the National Assembly since he was first elected into the hallowed chambers in 1999 to date.
“I’m not aspiring as a geo-political candidate, but a candidate of all sections of Nigeria”, adding that he is a bridge between the old and young Nigerians at the age of 63, describing himself as a “young old man”.
Lawan stated this Thursday when he met with All Progressive Congress delegates from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He said he wants to start from where President Muhammadu Buhari will stop in 2023 and complete his programmes, some of which he said “are very successful, some not very successful and those that are not successful, we go back to the drawing board”.
Earlier, Senator Sani Musa (Niger East) said people may be surprised why the Senate President is contesting the president of Nigeria, adding “we are looking for a pan Nigerian president where the place one comes from shouldn’t be an issue”.
Musa said Lawan as the Senate President has brought stability between the executive and legislative arms of the government which has made the passage of some laws which have been in the National Assembly for about two decades possible.
“We are looking for stability between the executive and legislature, the type that made us pass the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the passage of the national budget in December, thereby restoring the financial year January to December”.
He said Lawan was the first to pick nomination forms because the APC doesn’t want to lose election and go back to opposition party, adding, “that is why we need Ahmad Lawan for stability”.
In his own remarks, Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu said he too bought the N100 million APC nomination forms, but refused to fill and submit it when Lawan, his room mate in the University and friend of over 40 year entered the race.
He said the only zones that have not produced president in Nigeria are North East, where Lawan comes from and South East where he comes from, adding that they have stability in the Senate because Lawan gave positions to the opposition party members.
He said all it will take for Lawan to become president is to remove “Senate” from his present “Senate President” and what you have is president, describing Lawan as president in waiting.
Lawan who acknowledged that the nation still have security challenges, urged the FCT delegates to give him their votes, so that he can tackle the problem in addition to diversifying the economy and revamp the education sector, which he described as the “bedrock of development”.
