BY LUKA BINNIYAT
ABUJA—Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shakarau, yesterday became the first to submit a presidential nomination form for the All Nigerian Peoples’ Party, ANPP, ahead of what promises to be a close contest against Chief Harry Akande and Alhaji Bashir Tofa, next Saturday.

Tofa and Akande are expected to submit their forms today, making three of them the only contestants for the flag of the party in the 2011 presidential race.

The trio will face the screening committee of the ANPP on Friday, led by the ANPP 2011 National Convention Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, a former governor of Edo State.

Shakarau, while submitting his form to the National Chairman of the ANPP, Chief Ogbonoya Onu, said he was prepared to pick the ticket of the ANPP and win the 2011 presidential elections, to develop Nigeria the way he did in Kano in the last eight years. “We have gone through 12 years of bad leadership in Nigeria, and we are far from realising the destiny that God has set for us,” he said.

Chairman of the party, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, also speaking on the same line, said the ANPP would produce the next president for a better Nigeria.

“The ANPP was not created to be an opposition party; we have men and women of sound intellect, high integrity and patriotism, and one of them is submitting his form today.

“Chief Oyegun has already assured me that the ANPP would organise the best National Convention ever held by any political party in Nigeria, and he has mobilise all resources, materials and personnel to realise that,” he said.

Mallam Shekarau was escorted by a throng of supporters, among them his six zonal co-ordinators, all his 36 states co-ordinators and ANPP chieftains from the North.

Shakarau, who was also the first to purchase the presidential nomination form of the ANPP last November, is seen to have more formidable stronghold on the party members.

But, his major setback is the presence of  Alhaji Bashir  Otham Tofa, who hails from the same Kano State with him, and also has large followers in the North West and North East zones of the party across the country.

Tofa too, is likely to dazzle delegates as a tested hand in presidential elections, and as such a known brand, having secured the flag of the defunct National Republican Party, NRC, in 1993.

Chief Harry Akande had been campaigning in the South East states since Monday, having met with delegates from other parts of the country in the past one month.

Akande, who has contested for the ANPP ticket since 1999, is believe to have the backing of delegates from the South West, and South-South political zones.