Former Zamfara State governor and the front runner to the national chairmanship position of the All Progressive Congress, Abdulaziz Yari, has said his ambition to contest the national position is for real and not speculative.
Yari made the remarks when he received a delegation of AA Yari Support Campaign Group who visited him at his Maitama Abuja residence on Monday.
The former governor said his ambition to run for the party’s highest office followed “persuasions and pressure from political associates, friends, and colleagues” and that he is determined “to rejuvenate the party if given the opportunity.”
Yari said “politics of inclusiveness” is what is driving him to accept to contest for the APC national chairmanship. “We must see party politics as a means to salvage our people and not about wealth accumulation,” he said.
He said he believes the party will emerge stronger during this convention; and that with the wealth of experience as two-term governor and chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, he is better positioned to lead the party and give it a new life.
Earlier, the president of the AA Yari Support Campaign Group, Professor Ejike Ogoegbunam said the group had declared support for Yari after due consultations with critical stakeholders of the group.
“After thorough discussion amongst the core members of the group, we decided to throw our weight behind your aspiration to contest for the position of the national chairmanship of our great party, the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.
“The decision to support you followed your 5Rs (Reactivation, Reorganization, Restoration, Rejuvenation, and Reconstruction) vision to reposition our party for the internal and external development of the party and by and large, the country,” he said
According to Ejike, what the APC as a party needs now is the promotion of internal democracy which he said was one of the factors that drove the group to lend their support to Yari’s aspirations.
