A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has disclosed that if selected as the party’s candidate, he will be relying majorly on his followers on different social media platforms to garner support, vote and win the 2023 election in the country.
Momodu said that the number of his followers on social media platforms were enough for him to win the presidential election next year and become President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.
According to him, I am one of the biggest politicians on social media. I handle different social media accounts and I manage them myself. Today, Twitter started working and that indicates that we are back to serious conversation.
He disclosed this during an interview on a popular television political talk show on Thursday, a few hours after declaring publicly that he would be joining the race to clinch PDP’s presidential ticket for the poll.
“Of all aspirants vying to become the next president of Nigeria, I have the highest active followership base with 1.6 million on Twitter, over 700, 000 on Instagram, and above 300,000 on Facebook”, the presidential aspirant added.
Momodu, a publisher of magazines and newspapers, disclosed that the reasons many Nigerians particularly the youths, have decided to stay away from voting during elections and stick to social media were because the political parties had often presented candidates that the youths could not resonate with.
While announcing that the slogan of his campaign is ‘Hope 2023’, he disclosed that the dream to lead the country started about 30 years ago and that he felt the time has come for him to declare publicly.
The publisher stated that if elected, his victory would bring closure to the June 12, 1993 poll that was considered the freest poll ever organised in the country.
“I have prepared for over 30 years for this and I have the template to run the country. so, it is not a vision that started yesterday. I am a global brand that operates on all continents. I am qualified to run for the presidential seat”, he added.
Disclosing that he had been working with the party for over 10 years, the presidential aspirant stressed that he remain the most youth-friendly aspirant and free from any controversies.
Earlier at the PDP headquarters in Abuja, Momodu, while informing the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, urged the party leadership to consult widely before choosing the PDP’s flag bearer, noting that 2023 offers the main opposition party the golden opportunity to seek to reposition the country through the right candidate.
In his response, Ayu told the publisher that winning the presidential seat requires quality groundwork across grassroots and that there was a need to build a strong, and virile party that can wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“For you to run for office, you must have a strong platform but the first responsibility I will charge you to do is to work hard and build a strong party with which we can go into battle.
“For your personal ambition like all other candidates, I wish you well, I wish you the best. There will be a level playing ground for all aspirants; we don’t have a special candidate, we don’t have a preferred candidate, the party members will decide who will contest any office.
“If at the end of the day, party members vote for you that you are the one they want, the party will stand behind you. You have to go out and work out there among the party members across the country because the party leadership will not do it for you. Our job is to try and provide the necessary mechanism.”
