Former Commissioner for health, Plateau State, Dr. Patrick Dakum has said that he will run for the governorship seat of the State in 2023 general elections under the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
Dr. Dakum who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) however said he is currently consulting widely with relevant stakeholders on his political ambition.
While fielding questions from Reporters, Dr. Dakum scored President Muhammadu Buhari high on anti-corruption crusade, saying that the President has done well in the fight against corruption and development of agricultural awareness in the country.
“Like you know the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a guideline for active campaigns but now consultations are allowed as part of raising awareness among the party members and you know I belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“I have been meeting with party members, stakeholders and officials raising general awareness within party. Faithfully maybe through posters, billboard that is targeted to the general public as the case maybe.
“And by the time we get the guidelines of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which is now out I will go into active campaign but now we are doing consultations preparing for primaries that will start by the end of or early June.
“And so for one I have done a lot of consultations in 17 local governments of the State and I have gone round to meet party members. And I will be going round again targeting party members, officials from ward to local government areas including EXCOs.
And also anywhere I visit I meet the traditional Council members and other Chiefs for their advice and blessings”. He said.
Asked Why he chose to run under APC, the gubernatorial hopeful said, “The reason I have chosen APC is because the guidelines, constitution and party manifesto are in line with what I believe in, and secondly I have got a lot of my political allies and friends in the party, so if you look at it that is the basis of going into a political party, one if you believe in it and two I got friends within the party because without it, you cannot win party primary because the general population will not have access to you.
“And so for me APC is the party I have chosen. And for me what is important is what APC stands for. One, is to return Plateau State to peace or strength in security to enable every citizens to purse his chosen career in the context of a very peaceful atmosphere. So I foresee Plateau State where everybody both young and old pursuing their career that meets their needs and goals”.
The APC Chieftain however denied any crisis rocking the party, saying that, “I don’t know which crisis you are making reference to but I think APC in Plateau State to a very large extent is in a very stable State. And stable in the sense we don’t have faction and that we conducted our Congress in various wards and local governments and we have issues of candidature but reconciliation Committee are working on the issue. And you know you need time to reconcile people who didn’t get what they wanted or needed as a person and you know time is needed to put and strengthen things out very well.
“But for me the APC in Plateau State we don’t have any crisis in the party. And I have always said as a party is you need time to reconcile people who get or didn’t get what they wanted.
“We have had an incident where our former chairman defected to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and these are things individual people are free to do. You can choose a party or where to belong if you feel disfranchised.
“For me as a candidate if a party Chairman decides to leave there is nothing wrong. So for me it is not a crisis”.