Leon Usigbe – Abuja
The Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation on Monday said it is pleased that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has officially conceded to the electoral superiority of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), counterpart, Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the Campaign Organisation called on Nigerians to note the admission by the Tinubu’s Campaign, while responding to the recent Nextier Polls, that Atiku is well-grounded, more popular than Tinubu and poised for victory in the most states of the South East, South South, South West, North East and other parts of the country.
“While we completely reject and do not recognise the said Nextier Polls as it is unsupported, baseless and non empirical, our Campaign however acknowledges Tinubu Campaign’s submission in its response to Nextier that Adamawa (and by extension the North East) is a stronghold of the PDP Presidential Candidate and described any speculation to the contrary as “ridiculous”.
“Also, our Campaign acknowledges the admission by the Tinubu’s Campaign that South South States of Delta, the home State of the PDP Vice Presidential Candidate, Akwa-Ibom, the home State of the Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Bayelsa, Edo and Rivers States are impregnable strongholds of Atiku Abubakar and the PDP and declare any poll to the contrary as jesting.
“This is also the case in the South East States of Abia, Enugu, Anambra, Imo and Ebonyi which remain strongholds of the PDP with unwavering support for Atiku Abubakar.
“It is also clear that Atiku Abubakar is well grounded and more popular than Tinubu in States of the North West, including Katsina where the APC structure has collapsed into the PDP; Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi where APC members are daily moving in their millions to the PDP due to the overwhelming acceptability of Atiku Abubakar.
“In the same vein, in the North Central, the PDP presidential candidate is enjoying overwhelming popularity in Benue, the home State of the PDP National Chairman; Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and the FCT where Nigerians have demonstrated their preference for the Atiku Abubakar and the PDP as evidenced in the swelling support base as well as the victory of the PDP in recent sub-national elections.
“Our Campaign also notes that the Tinubu Campaign could not lay claim on the South West, ostensibly given the fact that Atiku Abubakar and the PDP are more popular than Tinubu in South West State of Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun as well as Lagos where APC presidential candidate’s popularity has fatally dipped following the shocking revelations of corrupt looting of the resources and assets of the State.
“Having officially conceded to the political superiority of Atiku Abubakar ahead of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election, our campaign counsels Asiwaju Tinubu to quietly withdraw from the race so as to avoid a humiliating defeat,” the statement read.
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