Renowned economist and presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, Wednesday, submitted his presidential nomination form, urging his party to prioritise competence over zoning

Hayatu-Deen, who spoke after submitting his form said the leadership of the ADC was in the best position to determine between consensus option and direct primary election, which was best option for the party.

According to Hayatu-Deen, “So competence should be prioritised over zoning. Competence is exceptional at this point in time, because anybody who is going for the office of president is actually going there as a quintessential Nigerian, and not because I come from Borgo or from Imo or any state.

“So, now we are truly about to begin and what we are here to do is to give people a choice in terms of who their representatives will be for various election offices in the country. 

“The pinnacle of this office is the office of the presidency and I can tell you with full confidence that I am fully prepared to contest this election. Are you certain of defeating Atiku at the primaries? I’m certain of myself and I’m very, very confident about the kind of campaign that I’m going to run.

“I’m confident that I will make this campaign and win it. All right, sir. Talking about the journey, you referred to it as a journey.

“I would know that after this stage, we’re talking about the primaries and then there are issues around the primaries. Some aspirants would prefer consensus, others would prefer going for the direct primaries. And there’s also issues about zoning that are common in political parties.

“Talk to us about your feeling on these two issues. As far as the mode of primaries is concerned, it’s firmly entrenched in the electoral act. The party leadership would decide what mode of primaries will best suit the needs of ADC in order for it to win this election.”

Meanwhile, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is billed to submit his presidential nomination form Thursday 14th May.

 Chuks Okocha