BASED on his promise to hit the ground running on September 28, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday rallied Nigerians for his mission to rescue and rebuild Nigeria if elected as president in 2023.
Basking in the euphoria of his weeks of nationwide consultations that took him to the south-east zone on Tuesday, the former vice president inaugurated the PDP presidential campaign council, as well as presented three new books, stressing his mission to rescue the country from its current state of inertia.
Key stakeholders in the PDP that were at the event included his running mate and governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa; former Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Governor Douye Diri (Bayelsa); Godwin Obaseki (Edo); Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa) and Governor Dairus Ishaku of Taraba State.
Other PDP chieftains at the event include former presidents of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki and Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, as well as a former Speaker House of Representatives, Mallam Umar Ghali Na’abba; House Minority Leader, Ndidi Elumelu, PDP acting national chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum; ex-national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, among other bigwigs.
The titles of his books presented at the event held at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja are: The Story of Atiku Abubakar; Landmarks Constitutional Law Cases in Nigeria and Re- structuring As A Pathway to Unity and Development.
However, Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo; Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia); Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Samuel Ortom of Benue were absent.
He described the majority of the people at the event as seasoned politicians with nothing but pure politics flowing through our veins, with the objective to navigate the murky waters of politics, and to campaign for and win elections.
Atiku said, “The tasks ahead may appear daunting; they may seem a load too heavy to bear. But, for the sake of our country, for the sake of our children, and for the sake of generations yet unborn, we must not, even for one minute, shirk in the responsibilities that we have been entrusted with to come together to rebuild this beloved country of ours.” He said the challenges on ground might appear to be a Herculean task, there is hope of overcoming the problems based on his blueprint with the title: ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’.
“All hope is not lost. We have a plan to address these issues and to arrest the drift of our nation. These plans have been laid out in the document entitled ‘My Covenant with Nigerians,’ he stressed.
He further lamented the despicable state of affairs in the country.
He added, “In May 2015, our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, in an orderly, peaceful and rancourfree manner, handed over the reins of government at the centre to the opposition party, the APC, having lost the presidential elections a few months earlier. “Four years later, in 2019, and in spite of the drift, economic desolation, challenges of insecurity and massive dislocations to the lives of our citizens witnessed under the APC government in those years, and notwithstanding that our great party had put before the Nigerian people a demonstrably better plan for recovery and development of our nation, our party was, once again, schemed out in the elections held that year in the most devious manner.
“It is a testament to the patriotism, dedication to constitutionalism and law and order, and the unshakable belief in the rule of law and the supremacy of the courts in our land, that our great party, the PDP, chose and pursued redress in the one and only way laid down by law – through the courts. Of course, you all know how that ended so, there is no need to bore you with details.
“Since the loss at the polls of 2019 till now, and under the watch of the current APC government, our dear country has witnessed a frightening descent into anarchy. Our nation is currently in the throes of a multidimensional crisis encompassing insecurity, economic meltdown, disunity and mutual mistrust, to mention a few.
“To start with, the current government has failed at the very essence of what makes a government: the security of the lives and property of its citizens. Our security challenges are legion, and I do not need to bore you by rehashing them here.
“Our economy is in shambles; growth has stagnated, and our people are facing massive existential challenges daily. Hunger is the norm today in our country.
“Our nation is in disarray. The fabric of unity that binds our country is today being torn apart by mutual distrust, ethnic and sectarian strife and we are now more disunited than we have ever been in our history, including even when we fought a civil war.
“Our educational system is comatose. Nothing more underscores this than the twin embarrassing facts of the number of children that are currently out of school, and the length of time that university students have been kept out of their classrooms this year, as a result of the ASUU strike. “Our system of government is broken. Our current system is unfair, unwieldy, skewed towards favouring the federal government at the expense of the other federating units, and has in itself, become a willing tool for underdevelopment.
This kind of system of government is no longer suited to the challenges of a twenty-first century economy that works for everyone and that is needed to bring development closer to our people.
We need to have a plan to address these issues and to arrest the drift of our nation. These plans have been laid in the document entitled: “My Covenant With Nigerians”.
He listed a five-pronged plan in his mission to rekindle hope for Nigeria and Nigerians, which include: to restore Nigeria’s unity through equity, social justice, mutual collaboration, and consensus among our diverse peoples; to build a strong and effective democratic government where the safety and security of our people and their property is our primary and singularly most important responsibility and establish a strong, resilient, inclusive and prosperous economy that generates opportunity, jobs and wealth while lifting the poor out of poverty.
The others are “to encourage the adoption of a true federal system that provides where all the federating units are equal, and has a fair and representative federal government that secures our borders, defends our people and ensures national unity, whilst allowing the federating units to develop and grow in line priorities which they have set on their own; redevelop, invest in, and strengthen our education system in order to provide its recipients with the education and skills needed to compete in the new global order driven by innovation, science, and technology, as well as to live healthy, productive, and meaningful lives.
“To undertake these tasks, the members of our party, the PDP, have graciously granted me the ticket to lead the party in next year’s presidential elections, with the singular mandate to come and lead the efforts to cure these ills,” he said.
Atiku explained that beyond coming together to inaugurate the campaign council, the task before all PDP faithful is to “come together to rescue and rebuild our be- loved country, Nigeria,” adding: “That is the end goal. “It is existential to us as a nation, and it is a task that history beckons upon us all to grasp with both hands and undertake with vigour and zeal. “But, to rescue and rebuild our country, we must first take over the mantle of leadership from the party that drove us into this mess.
“To do this, we must all be united in purpose and come together to fight and win all the elections slated for next year.
“Every single person who loves this country, as I do, is needed for the arduous tasks that face us ahead as a nation, and this includes every member of the PDP.
“And it is my fervent hope and prayer that every man and woman of goodwill will join hands with us to help rescue, rebuild and reposition our beloved country, Nigeria.
There are plans to destabilise PDP, sabotage Atiku —PDP NEC member
In a related development, a PDP NEC member and a national officer from Imo State, Chief Chinemerem Madu, has alleged an attempt to destabilise the PDP and the Atiku Campaign Council by one of the party’s vice national chairmen from the southern part of the country.
Madu said the ‘compromised national vice chairman’ and a couple of members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) are planning to derail the PDP presidential campaign with the aim of scuttling the victory of Atiku at the poll.
Madu, who said he was approached by the said national vice chairman to be part of the plan but declined, said the national vice chairman confessed to have been heavily bankrolled and that those behind the plan are already offering members of NEC sums ranging from N25 million to N28 million each to address a damaging press conference.
“Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are alerted of furtive moves by a compromised national vice chairman and a couple of members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to derail our presidential campaign and scuttle the deserving victory of our presidential candidate, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, at the 2023 general election.
“This national vice chairman and his cohorts who confessed to have been heavily bankrolled are approaching and offering members of NEC sums ranging from N25 million to N28 million each to address a damaging press conference with fabrications aimed at derailing the presidential campaign.
“The said national vice chairman had approached me personally as a member of NEC to inform me of plots to orchestrate a heavily funded press conference to be addressed by select NEC members seemingly calling for the resignation of the national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, but actually targeted at frustrating the Atiku Abubakar presidential bid.
“He pointedly confessed to me that the demands and agitation of his group had not been against the party chairman, as the public have been made to believe, but against Atiku Abubakar.
“He also vowed that nothing will assuage the group which is now bent on derailing the PDP presidential campaign.
“Central to this plot is the timing of the damaging press conference, which has been scheduled to hold soon after the inauguration of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council and official commencement of campaigns with a view to unsettle the PDP presidential campaign and scuttle Atiku’s presidential bid.
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