FEMALE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PICKED BY UPN
The Unity Party of Nigeria has picked a motivational speaker, Mrs. Helen Godswill, from Delta State, as its Presidential candidate for the 2015 general elections.
Alhaji Abdulrasheed Gusau from Zamfara State has also been chosen as her running mate.
The party, which also released a list of 13 governorship candidates for the election with a promise to rescue the country “from the precipice of crisis”, said its internal wrangling had been resolved.
The 13 states in which UPN intends to field candidates are Oyo, Ogun, Delta, Kano, Sokoto, Taraba, Zamfara, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Rivers, Cross River and Benue.
Although the National Publicity Secretary of UPN, Alhaji Bari Salau, did not disclose their identity during a press briefing held in Abuja, a top member of the party’s hierarchy told journalists that the choice was to get enough votes from women.
Another source in the Independent National Electoral Commission also confirmed the selection of Godswill and Gusau as the presidential and vice presidential candidates respectively of the UPN.
Already, the party had filed its papers at the INEC for Presidential, Governorship, National and State Houses of Assembly elections.
According to Salau, UPN has decided to keep the names of their Presidential flag bearers in the interim.
He said, “We want to inform the general public that the UPN has concluded the filling of its INEC papers for the Presidential, governorship and legislative contests in many states of the federation.
“We want to assure the generality of Nigerians at home and the diaspora that the UPN is on a rescue mission to salvage Nigeria from the state of precipice of crisis of monumental dimension caused by misrule at all levels of government controlled by the presence of mechanist politicians.
“We will establish free education so as to attack ignorance and enhance individual capacity of men and women. We will establish free healthcare services and equip our medical facilities for preventive and curative healthcare delivery. Our rural integration programme will link rural communities with urban areas.”
The party’s governorship candidate in Ogun State, Mr Rotimi Paseda, said UPN would do everything possible to preserve the legacy and achievements of its founding father, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. [Punchng.com]
