No Automatic Ticket for Atiku – PDP Board of Trustees

No Automatic Ticket for Atiku – PDP Board of Trustees

     Atiku

The chairman, Board of Trustees, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Walid Jibrin, has said that there would be no automatic ticket for former Vice President and now presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, in the coming 2019 general election.

Senator Jibrin maintained that the ex-VP has not informed anybody of any intention to defect back to PDP after dumping the party for APC ahead of the 2015 election but argued that PDP, however, is ready to accept Atiku if he makes a come-back journey.

Senator Jibrin also urged that Atiku plans to come back to the party, then “he should come as an equal partner” to contend with other aspirants already in the party for the ticket and not expect to be given an automatic ticket. According to him,  “Has he told you he is returning to the PDP?

We are ready to accept him to our party but he should be ready to work for a waiver. “The North met in Abuja to say that any candidate from the North can contest. Let us get them. I think they are getting set now.

“For now, we have a former governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau; former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido; a former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, and so on, preparing to vie for the PDP presidential ticket. “If the PDP grants Atiku a waiver, he should then join the cream of presidential aspirants in the party to fight for the ticket in 2019.

“If the PDP considers Atiku for the automatic presidential ticket, what about those in the party who are showing interest? Should we throw them away? If he is coming, he should come as an equal partner.

“We are ready to accept him; but he must follow the rules of the game. First, he must undergo primaries like any other person, and he must fight for the presidential ticket.”