When I become President, All Of My Ministers Will Be Under The Age Of 35 – Saraki 

Saraki also pledged that all of his Ministers of State will be young people.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Bukola Saraki, the former Senate President, has expressed thanks to several young Nigerians who donated N40 million to purchase his presidential candidacy form.

Mr Saraki said that this gift has inspired him to “fight twice as hard” as he had expected to achieve his goal.

“Last night, I was truly touched by the gesture of the young professionals convened by Abubakar Danmusa, who helped to raise the N40 million for my Presidential Expression of Interest Form and my Nomination Form.

“These young people, who went out of their way to rally their friends, family and coworkers, made contributions of N500,000 to N2 million to reach their desired goal.

“This symbolic gesture, a first of its kind in the history of our nation, is also a challenge to me. Now, I promise to work twice as hard as I originally intended.

“I promise to meet the yearning and aspirations of all our young people to run a modern government that can achieve sustainable development,” Mr Saraki said in a statement released on his Facebook wall.

Saraki also pledged in a tweet that all of his Ministers of State would be young people.

“As it stands, this is a clarion call. This is why, I make this promise — not out of politics or propaganda— but out of the fervent belief that young people have a role to play in the development of our nation:

“When I become President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 29th of May 2023, all the Ministers of State in my Cabinet will be experienced young people who are under the age of 35.

“Yes, we have our work cut out for us. But the battle to #FixNigeria has just started!” He added.

Saraki was previously the Governor of Kwara State from 2003 to 2011. He was elected to the Senate in 2011, representing the Kwara Central Senatorial District, under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and was re-elected in the 2015 general elections under the All Progressives Congress (APC) (APC).

On July 31, 2018, he resigned from the ruling party (APC) and returned to his previous party (PDP), where he became the opposition leader.

Saraki confirmed his candidacy for the PDP presidential ticket in the 2019 election, but was defeated in the primaries by Atiku Abubakar. He was then named the director general of Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign for the 2019 election, which he lost to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

Meanwhile, the PDP has insisted that northerners seeking the presidency have the right to do so.