Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, governor of Jigawa State, has reportedly joined race for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket, becoming the first core northern governor to join the 2023 presidential contest in the ruling party.
His entrance into the race coincides with the speculation that the party may have abandoned zoning of its presidential ticket to the south.
The Jigawa governor who is said to have purchased the N100 million nomination forms, was quoted as saying during the party’s stakeholders meeting in Dutse, the state capital, that he was qualified to rule Nigeria.
“I will join the Presidential race since everyone knows I’m highly qualified person to do the job,” he reportedly said.
The Governor was also said to have told the gathering during the meeting that he was pressurized to contest for the presidential seat by his colleagues.
His media aide, Auwalu Sankara, said his principal sought President Muhammadu Buhari’s blessings before buying the form.
Governor Badaru is now almost the number 12 in the APC seeking to replace Buhari in 2023.
It was gathered that the decision of the All Progressives Governors Forum to push Governor Badaru to contest for the presidential seat might not be unconnected with the fact that in case southerners pick their candidate from PDP it will pave way for the APC candidate.
Sankara further explained that his boss has the know-how to continue where Buhari stopped