I won’t run again if I lose presidential ticket – Makarfi

Former Kaduna State Governor and Presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, in this interview with select journalists in Kaduna said he can’t leave PDP even if he fails to get presidential ticket. He said he will go into semi retirement and not seek positions again. Abdulgafar Alabelewe was there.

There has been gale of defections from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to your party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). How do you feel now?

I have long predicted these defections many months back. When we were going through difficulties and people were losing hopes, and I was asked similar question as far back as last year (2017), my reply was that the time for defection from APC and other parties to the PDP will be coming and it happened. I predicted it correctly and I am not surprised. Personally, I feel happy that it has taken place. It is also not the end of it (defection). We have seen the first wave and we expect more defections to follow, especially because of the reaction of the APC and its government. Some (defectors) will buy their time and do it at a later day. You know, it happened to us in the PDP. It happened to one and it will happen to the other. It is a matter of time. Personally, I am happy that we are getting returnees back and getting new party members, especially new people that have never been in the PDP before and the party should be prepared for a lot more to come in. Of course, every positive thing comes with challenges. The challenge will be integrating all the party men and women (the returnees and those they met in the party). But I am equally happy that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has set up machinery which has been working day and night to bring a smooth integration and harmonization of interests of party men and women in states that are more heavily affected by the defection. That is how politics is played – constructive engagement and that constructive engagement is still going on and I believe at the end of the day, people will accommodate each other in the overall interest of the party.

Talking about defectors, harmonization and integration of returnees is ongoing, how has it being, especially as one of them is already contemplating joining the presidential race?

Well, you see, it depends on the way you look at this particular issue. What I have been made to understand, which is the true position of the party, because I did discuss with the committee on the harmonization and I did discuss with the party leadership; that, where you have a sitting Governor coming into the party with all his apparatus of government, certain parameters of integration were agreed upon to do with the state, it’s not something to do with the nation. You get my point? And where he is a Senator, certain parameters to do with his Senatorial zone were agreed upon, or state assembly or even House of Representatives. But, I think some are misinterpreting this to be wider than what the intended purpose is. Because for example if you are in the House of Representatives, looking for Senate, it does not apply to your ambition for Senate, because it relates to your current position, it does not relate to any other position that you are looking for beyond your current position. And this is worth discussing dialoguing and ironing out issues with all involved.

Even here in Kaduna, later today, I have called for a meeting of key leaders of the party that are around, so that, we can see how politically we can bring about hitch-free integration of returnees into the party without causing any unnecessary disruption that can be counterproductive.

There are many presidential aspirants in the PDP and recently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin was talking about bringing all aspirants to a round table to discuss the possibility of a consensus candidate. How do you react to that?

You don’t rule out anything in

Ojebi!

Needless to say..We know you can't..

In the next four years, there is every tendency you LL be walking with 3 legs

F