Katsina PDP governorship aspirants protest, decry imposition of candidate

Sen. Ibrahim Ida, a Katsina State PDP governorship aspirant, said on Monday in Abuja that the party would lose the state in 2015 if an unpopular candidate was imposed on the people.

He stated this on Monday in Abuja when he led a group of five PDP gubernatorial aspirants from the state on a protest to the party`s National Working Committee (NWC).

Ida was a former Deputy Governor of Katsina State.

The other aspirants include Alhaji Tukur Jikamshi, Alhaji Gide Yar'Adua, Alhaji Ahmed Yar'Adua, Alhaji Kabiru Barkiye and Alhaji Mohammed Khalil.

He added that though Katsina was a stronghold of the PDP in the North West zone, it was also the home state of leading members of the opposition.

'Therefore, for the party to succeed in the 2015 general elections, it must field a popular and acceptable candidate,'' he said.

He, however, asked the PDP National Chairman to send a fact finding team to Katsina, to establish the true state of affairs of the party in the state.

This, he said, was necessary for the party leadership to find out the true relationship between the party members and the state government.

He said that any unpopular status was sufficient to make the party lose all elective positions in the state.

He added that the party leadership should take appropriate actions to redress the situation.

Ida, however, called on the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu`azu, to ensure a level playing field for all aspirants in the electoral process ahead of the 2015 general elections.

This, he said, was critical to enable the popular and acceptable candidate to emerge for the success of the party in the 2015 polls in the state.

Ida said that the PDP must be mindful that leaders of the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), were all from Katsina State.

He stressed that members of the opposition could take advantage of the political miscalculation if not properly handled (NAN)