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Presidential
aspirant on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Harry
Akande, says he has nothing against the governor of Kano State, Ibrahim
Shekarau, for abandoning him during the last national convention of the
party.

Mr. Akande, who
initially had Mr. Shekarau’s backing for the position, lost to
Ogbonnaya Onu, who emerged as the chairman of the party at the
convention in September.

Mr. Shekarau allegedly withdrew his support from him a night before the convention.

Mr Akande, who was
responding to claims that he has not forgiven Mr. Shakarau for
switching support from him, denied that he joined the presidential race
to frustrate the ambition of the governor, who himself is a
presidential aspirant.

He stated that he
was not a politician who harbours bitterness in his heart, noting that
his plan to contest the presidency of Nigeria surpasses trivial issues
of trying to get back at an individual.

He explained that
prior to the convention, Mr. Skekarau, in company of 50 delegates from
Kano State, came to his house in Lagos twice, asking him to join the
chairmanship race, though he was not interested in this. According to
him, he had brighter chances to lead the ANPP in 2006 ahead of the
former chairman, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, but decided against running for the
position.

“I have never been
interested in that position, but because the party’s fortune was
dwindling and going out of relevance in Nigeria political terrain, I
decided to give it a shot in order to work with people of like minds to
re-engineer and re-build the party,” Mr. Akande said.

No veteran aspirant

The presidential
aspirant, however, said he accepted to run for the office of national
chairman last September because of the urgent need to reposition the
party. Mr. Akande noted that he trusted Mr. Shekarau to deliver the
delegates from his geo-political zone, which accounted for about 32
percent of total delegates to the convention, but he (Shekarau)
betrayed him the night before.

“Therefore, I lost
because we did not touch that zone in our campaign prior to the
convention, believing that the governor would deliver his own end of
the deal and a gentleman agreement to realise the noble agenda,” he
said.

Mr. Akande also
condemned those who described him as a veteran presidential aspirant,
saying “The only unfulfilled dream of my life today is the realisation
of a better Nigeria with the best economy and infrastructural
development and no amount of resources invested on this noble project
to better the life of my people will ever be a waste,” he said.