Former Jigawa state governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has said Governor Ayodele Fayose has the constitutional right to contest for the office of the president like every other Nigerians.

Lamido, therefore, urged the leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure that the party’s December national convention would be free and fair. The former governor made the call when he met with ex-PDP Speakers of States Houses of Assembly forum on Thursday in Abuja.

He also pointed out that anybody that emerges as PDP chairman would enjoy the required support from all party’s members. Lamido, who had said Fayose had the right to contest even though the party had zoned the 2019 presidential ticket to the North, advised PDP members to be courageous in the face of what he described as “persecution”. “We need people to be courageous.”

He reiterated his determination to remain in PDP, saying “no matter how hard I try, if I move to All Progressive Congress (APC), my soul will not follow me.”

Lamido added that without the PDP members who joined the APC, the party would not have defeated PDP in the last general elections.

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs said that 2019 would be a defining moment for Nigeria.