I will perform ’10 times better’ as APC chairman- Modu Sheriff

A former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, has said no person has worked more and better for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) than himself.

He said as one of the founders of the party, he has nothing but the interest and growth of the party at heart.

Mr Sheriff made this statement at a press conference in Abuja on Friday.

The former governor is an aspirant for the position of the APC’s national chairman.

Although the party is yet to zone the position, it has scheduled its national convention for February 26.

Mr Sheriff, who was once the national chairman of Nigeria’s main opposition party, PDP, had said he would run for the position if it is zoned to the North-east east.

He had also disclosed that consultations with party leaders across the country had begun, on the need for repositioning ahead of the challenges that may arise after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

He was responding to questions on his sojourn in the PDP and his plans to beat other qualified candidates when he said he has worked hard and his experience in the PDP is a “plus.”

“…I’ve never been a member of PDP in my life… They gave me the position of national chairmanship in the party and I believe that should be a credit for our party.

“I was part of the founders of APC. I was among the six people that sat first. I was the chairman of the board of trustee of the ANPP.

“No person has worked for the APC in his life more than me. And because I wasn’t comfortable (in PDP), I went back home. It should be a plus for the party.”

While stating that the party will get the national convention right, Mr Sheriff said if elected as national chairman, he will do ten times more than what he did at the PDP.

No presidential ambitions

He also dismissed rumours that he is nursing presidential ambition, saying his aspiration is to lead the APC to electoral victory in 2023.

“Please, I want to put it on record today, I am not looking for president. I am looking for APC national chairmanship position so that I can lead a campaign as we did in 2014 to make sure that our father and leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, hands over power to another APC man as a president.

“If I want to be president, I am not afraid of anybody. But I don’t want to be president but the national chairman of the APC,” he said.

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While he described other aspirants as eminently qualified, he said he is the one for the job.

“With the greatest respect and humility, I make bold to declare that I am that person because I have the skills and experience to unite different interests within the party and across the diverse groups in the country,” he said.

Mr Sheriff is among 11 other prominent members of the ruling party jostling for the position.

They include a former governor of Nasarawa State and serving senator, Tanko Al-Makura; his counterpart from Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, the Special Duties Minister and former senator, George Akume, and Niger senator, Sani Musa.

Mr Sheriff had said one of the aspirations of the APC is to rule Nigeria for the next 40 to 50 years.