We must unite to end ‘callous, dangerous’ APC misrule, Atiku urges PDP

PDP flag-bearer, Atiku

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has told the party faithful to unite and work hard for every vote to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next year’s elections.

The former Vice President spoke shortly after receiving his certificate of return on emerging as the flag bearer of the main opposition party during a ceremony at its national secretariat in Abuja, on Wednesday.

While noting that the primary contest that produced him was a family affair, Atiku affirmed that all must be carried along to put to an end what he called the callous and dangerous misrule of the APC.

He stated: “My chairman, my dear friends, while I am excited and happy for this opportunity to bear our party’s flag, let us all remember that what just happened is a contest within a family to decide how to put our best foot forward. The main contest is the one to win the Presidency of our country for our Party.

“And it requires the entire PDP family and other supporters and sympathisers. We must pull everyone together. Nobody should be excluded. I have already visited some of those who contested against me as a way to lead in that effort to unify the party so that we can face our real opponents, defeat them in the elections and begin the process of rescuing and rebuilding this country.

“The callous and dangerous APC misrule over the past seven years is there for everyone to see. However, we should not take their defeat for granted. We must unite and work extremely hard for every single vote in this country. There is so much to do and there is little time to waste. So, let’s get to work.”

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Atiku, who was also the PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 election, recalled that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party had assured before the primaries that there would be a level playing ground and everyone would work with whoever emerged as the candidate.

He added: “I was also assured that once a candidate emerged from our primary election you would all support that candidate and work very hard to ensure our victory in the Presidential election and of course the governorship and legislative elections across the country.

“I am honoured and quite humbled to receive this Certificate of Return, having emerged as our party’s Presidential Candidate in our just concluded Special Convention. This victory is a victory for all of us, for our party and for the vast majority of Nigerians suffering under the misrule of the APC. It was a collective effort, and I am very grateful for everybody’s contributions.”

In his address at the occasion, PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, remarked that there was no victor no vanquished in the party primaries.

He asserted that Atiku was a tested and trusted individual who would rescue the country and unite it

The party boss stated: “As we marched forward, we need all of you because each one of you had a supporter and all of you plus all your supporters, we want you all to fuse together into one happy political family. It is this family that will face the battle ahead. We have only started a journey. We shall end this journey sometime next year. By the first of June next year, we should take over power from colourless and clueless government that has totally destroyed this country.

“All of you are aware of what has happened to our country in the last seven years. I don’t need to repeat issues of insecurity, total destruction of the economy, total disunity of the country.

“We have never been as divided as we are today as a country. Families are divided, communities are divided against each other. There is no trust among ourselves.

“The president that is coming in is tested and trusted. He will lead us to reunite the country. He will lead us to rebuild the economy. He will lead us to get rid of bandits and terrorists. He will re-enforce the armed forces. He will give us respect in the international community. Today we are a pariah state but in the next 12 months, the whole world will begin to respect Nigeria all over again.”

Addressing the party supporters, Ayu assured them that the PDP would not fail them saying: “I urge all of you to come together. It doesn’t matter which candidate you supported, come together and support the party, support our efforts, support our candidates, the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“And I want to assure you that we in the National Working Committee will continue to work tirelessly because you didn’t elect us to organize a successful convention, you elected us to win the presidency for you. You elected us to give you more governors, you elected us to take control of the two houses of the National Assembly.

“You elected us to win all the houses of assembly across the states and we will continue to do just that by working with you, by calling on many of you to come and help us execute these objectives because we can’t do it alone.”

Among those who witnessed the event were several of the party’s former presidential aspirants including Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Udom Emmanuel, Sam Ohuanbunwa, Diana and Teriela Oliver as well as other party chieftains including ex-governor James Ibori, who was attending a national secretariat PDP event for the first time since returning to the country.

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Aliyu Abdulkareem

Aliyu is a multimedia journalist and SEO editor with over three years of experience.