The Peter Obi Support Network has asked former Vice President Abubakar Atiku to drop his ambition to contest the 2023 presidential election and support another candidate and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi.
Both Atiku and Obi are contesting the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential ticket.
In a message to Atiku dated April 19, 2022 and made available to our correspondent, the group said it was in the interest of equity, justice and fairness.
The message was signed by the group’s Media and Communications Committee members, namely: Prince Emeka Kalu, Alhaji Kabir Garba, Adigun Makanjuola, Mr Marcel Ngogbehei and Comrade Sani Saeed Altukry.
The group said stepping down and supporting Obi would not only save the PDP and Nigeria, but also ensure that the Atiku/Obi ticket of 2019, which Nigerians missed, was returned to power in 2023 and ensure that their lofty manifesto was implemented for the benefit of all.
According to the group, the country as of today was in an extreme crisis, and it was at times like this that history and posterity recorded its greatest heroes and heroines.
It said the reasonable implication is that after eight years of the rule of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the presidency should rotate to the South in 2023.
It called on Nigerians not to repeat the mistakes of 2015, adding that nobody should wish Nigerians another eight years of bad governance.
The group noted that if the PDP conceded its ticket to the South-East, it would be sending a message that would drown the APC.
The statement read in part, “We write on behalf of millions of our members across Nigeria to call on you, our Party Leader, H.E Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (GCON), to seize the moment and show again the leadership you ably demonstrated in 2019 when you rose above primordial considerations to choose Mr. Peter Obi as the PDP Vice-Presidential Candidate; an action that got the entire country ‘Atikulated & Obligated.’
“The Atiku/Obi 2019 ticket has gone down in history as Nigeria’s most inspiring presidential ticket of all time, which in our view was an unfairly denied victory.
“Regardless of the foregoing, our relationship with you will last forever; and for the record, all of us in POSN were Atikulated & Obligated in 2019. Hence, for us, you are part and indeed the head of our family.
“As you are aware, Nigeria had President Olusegun Obasanjo (Southwest, 1999–2007) and President Goodluck Jonathan (South-south, 2010–2015), leaving the South-East outstanding.
“The All Progressives Congress has zoned its 2023 presidential ticket to the South; therefore, the PDP has no reason not to follow suit as a matter of law. To do otherwise will mean working against equity and fairness and inviting avoidable litigation and possible truncation of the PDP’s participation in the 2023 presidential election, which will give the APC a ‘walk-over-victory.’
“Stepping down and supporting Peter Obi will not only save the PDP and Nigeria, but also ensure that the Atiku/Obi ticket of 2019, which Nigerians so dearly missed, is returned to power in 2023 and ensure that their lofty manifesto is implemented for the benefit of all.”
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