A Kaduna State born politician and former senator, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has joined the 2019 presidential race.
Mr Baba-Ahmed’s (DBA) political journey started when he was first elected in April 2003 to the House of Representatives for the Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State. He ran on the platform of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).
In the April 2011 elections, Mr Baba-Ahmed polled 366,398 votes in the contest to represent Kaduna North Senatorial district, beating his closest rival, Ahmed Makarfi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the incumbent, who polled 365,043 votes.
A statement from Mr Baba-Ahmed’s media team describes him as a “young and vibrant Nigerian who has all the credentials to move Nigeria to the next level. He is capable of unifying the country and bringing peace to all the regions.”
“Datti Baba-Ahmed studied Economics at the prestigious University of Westminister, United Kingdom, and at a time when the nation’s economy is on its knees, he comes highly recommended.
“At the age of 41, he had worked for the Security Printing and Minting company in Lagos, obtained two different Masters degrees, a PhD, served as elected Hon. Representative, Distinguished Senator, and established one of the top ranking private university with two other companies employing over 600 people drawn from every state in the country.
“Datti Baba-Ahmed, a thorougly breed Nigerian with passion for educational advancement has gone further to add other academic value and exposure to his life by obtaining additional educational qualifications at London Business School, Harvard Kennedy and Harvard business school respectively,” the statement added.
The statement also adds that the presidential hopeful also has a reputation of speaking fearlessly against corruption, bad governance and societal problems.
“His uncompromising stance against corruption remains an important ingredient needed for a leader that wants to steer the ship of the Nigerian state. This is a man that will favour building institutions over creating strong personalities.
“The common yearning in the Nigerian political space is for a fresh face to lead, heralding a departure from the recycling of leaders that Nigeria has always had for decades. The youth who are the majority of Nigerian population, are in desperate need of a leader and a mentor that they can rally behind with their support having been disappointed so many times by the old stock.
“In an era of total distrust for leaders, Nigeria is in dire need of a young, energetic and competent leader with no baggage to run for President in 2019. Senator Datti is 48, a successful scholar and businessman who has what it takes to bring about a re-engineering of the Nigerian economy and create jobs for the army of unemployed youth in the country. He is living proof that Nigeria can still dare to dream of a better future once more.”
