FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he would soon officially declare his intention to contest the 2023 presidential race.
Atiku stated this on Saturday, after a closed-door meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his residence, in Abeokuta, Ogun.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Atiku was Obasanjo’s vice between 1999 and 2007, and also a Presidential contestant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 polls.
Atiku, who spoke briefly with newsmen after the meeting that lasted for about an hour, said he was in Abeokuta as part of his usual visit to Obasanjo, his former boss.
He expressed assurances that he would eventually emerge as the PDP presidential flagbearer in the 2023 general elections.
“Have I ever failed to get the ticket? I’m confident that I will still get it,” he said.
When asked for his reaction on the call for the emergence of younger presidential candidates, Atiku responded, “Let the youths compete now. It is a competition. It is democracy.”
Atiku later proceeded to the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, in Ake, Abeokuta, where he recalled his days in Ogun as a trained Customs Officer.
Although, Atiku did not disclose his political intentions at the palace, the traditional ruler prayed that God would grant him his heart’s desires.
Meanwhile, a group of Atiku loyalists has justified his qualification to contest for the Presidency come 2023, arguing that age is no barrier to his political aspiration.
They also argued that Atiku did not abandon the PDP after the 2019 presidential poll.
Their spokesman, Alozie Alozie, who is also the Director-General, Atiku Campaign Stream, in a media chat on Saturday contended that the former Vice President has all it takes to vie for the presidential election, arguing that age has nothing to do with the contest.
Alozie insisted that Atiku has the pedigree to contest the 2023 presidential elections, saying there are some world leaders who are above 80 years and ruling their country well.
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