Governor Bala Mohammed has commended the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) for adopting him and former Senate President Bukola Saraki as the northern consensus presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Recall that the NEF leadership, in Minna, the Niger State capital, on Friday, adopted Saraki and Mohammed as the northern consensus for the opposition party.
In a communique signed by its Chairman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, the NEF said the decision to select the two aspirants was based on certain criteria adopted in the assessment of the four presidential hopefuls who submitted themselves for the exercise.
Abdullahi stated that these criteria included the candidate’s assessment, zonal assessment, and PDP’s previous experiences.
Speaking with reporters on Saturday in Bauchi, Mohammed said his adoption as one of the consensus presidential candidates of the PDP was divinely ordained.
The Bauchi governor disclosed the NEF’s decision was a mark of recognition and the work of God that he will not take for granted.
Mohammed, however, said that he was not aware of how the forum picked him as a consensus candidate, adding that he did not influence the decision of the frum in anyway.
He said: “Just yesterday, I was elected as one of the consensus candidates for the next presidential election.
“People may take it as something influenced or that we have gone to ask people to give us the recognition, far from that, it is a mark of recognition and the work of God that I will not take for granted.
“This recognition on my humble self and Sen. Bukola Saraki after we decided to do consensus with two others, and came on bracket after due consultations with other elders in the north.
“We have been asked to further consult within ourselves and other aspirants within the country so that we can minimise rancour, division and any unpleasantries for us to come out with a candidate that would win the election for the PDP.
“We have taken it as a responsibility and we are calling on others even those who didn’t make it in the consensus to come and join hands with us and our southern compatriots so as to do it with minimal rancour and come out of the primaries and selection that would produce the best in terms of leadership recruitment in the country.”
The governor said he was one of the best that had so far stepped out and shown interest to become the next president of the country in 2023.
He, however, opined that the best candidate in the party might have not bought the form or stepped out to indicate his interest in the presidency.
“This is part of politicking, we are not the only ones. There is also the Waziri Adamawa who has not even participated in the consensus. It is part of political engineering.
“There are other aspirants from the South but we must work through and make sure that we come to a converging point including the group of Alhaji Sule Lamido.
“We will make sure that we get their endorsement and confidence, and I assure you that we are going to come out of this,” he added.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News