News: 2015: UPN picks female presidential candidate

The Unity Party of Nigeria has picked a motivational speaker, Helen Godswill, as its presidential candidate for next year’s general elections.

The party picks Alhaji Abdulrasheed Ibrahim Gusau as her running mate.

While Godswill hails from Delta State, Gusau hails from Zamfara State.

The UPN, which also released a list of 13 governorship candidates for the 2015 general elections with a promise to “rescue the country from the precipice of crisis,” said it had resolved its internal wrangling.

The 13 states in which UPN intends to field candidates are Oyo, Ogun, Delta, Kano, Sokoto, Taraba, Zamfara, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Rivers, Cross River and Benue.

Although the National Publicity Secretary of UPN, Alhaji Bari Salau, did not disclose their identity during a press briefing in Abuja, one of the party’s chieftains told journalists that Godswill was chosen as the presidential candidate so as to get enough votes from women.

He said, “We want to inform the general public that the UPN has concluded the filing of its papers at the Independent National Electoral Commission in preparation for the general elections.

“We want to assure Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora that the UPN is on a rescue mission to salvage Nigeria from the crisis of monumental dimension caused by misrule at all levels of government controlled by the presence of mechanist politicians.

“We will establish free education so as to attack ignorance and enhance individual capacity of men and women. We will establish free health care services and equip our medical facilities for preventive and curative health care delivery. Our rural integration programme will link rural communities with urban areas.”

Salau commended traditional rulers, religious leaders and Nigerians for their steadfastness in ensuring that peace was restored in the party.