Atiku Abubakar, Former Vice President, says he could have become Nigerian president in 2003 when majority of the governors in the country rallied round him, but he declined to contest.

Abubakar said he is not desperate to become Nigerian president as some Nigerians are currently viewing him.

“I could have become Nigeria’s president in 2003 when virtually, all the state governors then, rallied support for me to contest which I declined. I am not desperate to be president as some Nigerians view it,” he told BBC Hausa morning programme Tuesday.

“If I am desperate, I wouldn’t have stepped down for M.K.O Abiola in 1993 presidential race.

“In 1993, I contested with M.K.O Abiola. I later withdrew from the race. In 1999, I was elected a governor of Adamawa state, then invited to be Nigeria’s vice president, under Olusegun Obasanjo,” he said.

He said if Nigerians could follow his political antecedent, they would not see him as a desperate politician.

According to him, he contested against former President, Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007, “to show the world that I have the right to contest and I did that to satisfy my conscience”.

“All the times I have been contesting for the presidency, I have been opportune only once to be presented to Nigerians as a candidate,” he said, adding that the remaining times, he ended up only at the primary election.

“As a former vice president, I am opportune to know things. If I am opportune to be elected as a president, I will accomplish my mission by reviving the economy, by making Nigeria an investor’s haven.

“The present administration discouraged investors into the country, because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) exchange rate policies is too tedious for investors. CBN has three different exchange rate policies, which is not supposed to be.