Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has made his intention to run yet again for the office of the presidency in 2023 known.
Atiku’s presidential interest is contained in a leaked memo to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was seen by newsmen on Friday.
The memo is dated June 29, 2021. The former vice president in the memo appreciated members of the PDP for their support during the 2019 general elections and asked them to prepare once more for the 2023 elections.
“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 People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and my candidature for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during the 2019 general elections.
“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,” the memo read.
Speaking further, Atiku claimed that the PDP lost the 2019 presidential election due to massive fraud allegedly perpetrated by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He added, “Several persons, particularly associates and compatriots may have felt frustrated, some have even privately expressed so, while others have publicly complained that we have left them without leadership guidance democratic forces who have visited severe stress on our political economy. I concede that individuals are justified to hold such opinions and even more. But they are not entirely correct.
“I assuage these feelings. Yes, I may have been apparently out of regular physical presence in Nigeria. My absence was not completely deliberate. Rather, it was strategic, as I have kept close contact and monitored events in our polity, reviewing and studying the changing dynamics.
“In addition, I also tried to undertake personal educational improvement, equipping myself with new knowledge, capacity, and skills that would methodically review the appalling situation. Our nation is indeed in the intensive care unit and would require delicate surgical procedures. We are all members of that surgical team.”
President Muhammadu Buhari defeated Atiku in the 2019 presidential election.
Buhari had also four years earlier defeated Atiku in the APC’s primaries to emerge as the party’s flag bearer for that year’s presidential election, which he won.