•Says PDP lost 2019 polls to ruling party’s fraud, eyes 2023
•Former VP is nation’s messiah, says Adamawa governor
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general election was Nigeria’s biggest mistake. Atiku stated this on Saturday in Yola at an event, where prominent APC stalwarts defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He urged Nigerians to reject APC in subsequent elections.
Atiku also alleged that PDP lost in 2019 because APC perpetrated massive fraud at the polls.
Nevertheless, the former vice president intensified consultations for his 2023 presidential bid.
Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri described Atiku as the messiah the country had been waiting for. Reiterating that PDP lost the 2019 presidential election because of the massive fraud perpetrated by APC, Fintiri called on APC members to leave the party because of what he called the ruling party’s woeful performance in power. He said the mass defections from the ruling party signalled its coming interment.
Atiku said, “We have done a big mistake before by floating a party called the APC. But from today, I am calling on you, the Adamawa people, to leave your parties and join the PDP, because it is the future and the masses’ party. APC is Nigeria’s biggest mistake.
“It was PDP that gave back life to Adamawa State after it was slayed by the APC, ushering the state into her present state of infrastructural development. Our schools are now better and our health institutions are in superb shape. I pray that this event will mark the beginning of the internment of the APC.”
During the event, prominent ex-members of APC, including a former Secretary to the Adamawa State Government, Kobis Thimnu, Chief Daniel Bwala, Sali Bodes, Umar Bello, Nedo Geofrey, and Philip Gutuwa, were received by Fintiri into the PDP. The governor assured the defectors of fairness and a level playing ground.
Canvassing support for Atiku’s presidential aspiration, the governor urged stakeholders in the PDP in Adamawa State to work round-the-clock to sell his candidature outside the state, insisting that Atiku was the messiah that Nigeria earnestly awaited.
Last week, Atiku spent a huge part of the weekend visiting political associates in Oyo State. He wrote on his verified Facebook account, “This morning, I led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta States, Aare Dauda Akinola, at his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.
“Today, in Ibadan, I paid a condolence visit to the widow of late Alhaji Ariyibi Adedibu, Alhaja Bose Adedibu, over her mother’s death. May Allah grant the deceased Aljannah Firdaus and also shine His Noor on Baba Adedibu’s face. Ameen.”
Atiku had visited the PDP governors of Oyo, Rivers, Delta, Enugu, and Edo states, while on Saturday, he met with the governor of his home state, Fintiri.
He had also been writing letters to his close associates, appreciating them for supporting him in the 2019 general election. In a leaked letter to Dr. Kola Jones Ademujimi c/o Hon. Fatai Adams Peoples Democratic Party, of No. 3, Bishop Fagun Road, Alagbaka, Akure, Ondo State, Atiku gave signs that he might give the presidency another shot in 2023.
In the letter, dated June 29, 2021, Atiku expressed gratitude to members of PDP for their role in the 2019 elections and urged the party to gear up for the 2023 elections. He noted that the party had become better equipped than it was during the last presidential election, and urged members to team up towards a new political and economic order that would radically reinvent the country.
The letter to the Ondo PDP chieftain read, “It is with utmost respect that I convey to you, my deep appreciation and profound gratitude for the overwhelming support and massive electoral votes cast to support our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and my candidature for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during the 2019 general election.
“Now, we are better equipped, and all our compatriots must team up today towards a new political and economic order that should radically reinvent our beloved country.
“We are fully prepared to work in synergy to restore hope, pull Nigeria back from the brinks and relive the patriotic spirit of our founding fathers! I believe that together, we would rebuild our broken fences, mend our cracked walls, restore hope, and return Nigeria to the path of greatness again. Surely, we can, and we must.”
