IBRAHIM SHEKARAU DECLARES INTEREST TO CONTEST 2019 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

A former Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has informed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and various stakeholders of his intention to contest for the presidency in 2019. Confirming the development to newsmen on Wednesday, his spokesperson, Malam Sule Ya'u Sule, said Shekarau, had already sent notification letters to the PDP and all relevant stakeholders. Sule explained that Shekarau, who was the governor of Kano State had since communicated his political ambition to various elders, community leaders, opinion leaders, political associates and religious leaders regardless of their ethnic and party affiliations. "Malam Shekarau deliberately refused to make his ambition public because he does not want the relevant stakeholders to read it for the first time on the pages of newspapers. He first notified them before making it public. He is now making necessary consultations," he said. In a letter, which he personally signed and sent to one of his political associates, Malam Hassan S. Indabawa, dated August 22, 2017, Shekarau said soon after the 2015 general elections, there had been various calls by individuals and groups from many quarters urging his candidature to contest for the presidency in 2019. Just few days ago, former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, also sent a letter of notification to PDP leaders and members on his readiness to try his luck at the presidency in 2019.