THE presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, is seeking the support of fellow contestants at the party’s just-concluded primary for victory at the 2023 Presidential election.
Abubakar reached out to the aspirants on Sunday morning in Abuja in his acceptance speech after he was declared winner of the primary.
The former Vice President, who described the primary election that produced him as “freest and a well-fought election,” promised to give his co-contestants a sense of belonging.
Abubakar, in his acceptance speech, said, “My fellow compatriots, I want to appreciate your efforts in deepening our democratic processes in this party. It was a well-fought primary election.
“I commend you for that and look forward to working with you very closely so that together we can build this party to a level where we can take over the government.”
He called on aggrieved party members to return to the PDP, pledging that their grievances would be addressed.
He described the exercise as the freest election conducted by the party, saying the outcome remained historical in bringing fundamental changes to governance and democracy.
“Today, we are making another history, which we believe will bring about fundamental changes in governance and also in our political processes.
“Today marks another milestone in the process of our democratic gains,” he said
The former vice president reiterated his pledge to unify the country, as well as deal with its economic and security challenges.
He recalled that in his declaration, he referred to himself as a unifier and pledged to unify the country.
“I am going to deal decisively with our security challenges in this country. I also pledge to confront our economic challenges, which were caused by the APC government,” he said.
Abubakar promised to reform the economy and restore the country’s economic gains, which he claimed the PDP implemented but had been wiped out by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The former Vice President polled 371 votes in the PDP presidential primary to defeat his closest rival, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who polled 237 votes.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.