There are indications that the former Nigeria’s Vice President Atiku Abubakar is gearing up to contest the presidential seat in 2023.
This was revealed after a secret memo to the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sent in June leaked to the press.
Atiku had lost to President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election and was also defeated by Buhari in the All Progressives Congress APC primaries in 2015.
In the leaked memo to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and seen by Newsmen in Nigeria on Friday, Atiku declared his intention to vie for the nation’s highest political office in two years’ time.
In the memo dated June 29, 2021, the former Vice President expressed gratitude to members of PDP for their role in the 2019 elections and urged the party to gear up for the 2023 elections.
He noted the party was now better equipped than it was during the last presidential elections, and urged the party members to team up towards a new political and economic order that would radically reinvent the country.
The memo read: “It is with utmost respect that I convey to you, my deep appreciation and profound gratitude for the overwhelming support and massive electoral votes cast to support our party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and my candidature for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during the 2019 general elections.
” Now, we are better equipped, and all our compatriots must team up today towards a new political and economic order that should radically reinvent our beloved country.
“We are fully prepared to work in synergy to restore hope, pull Nigeria back from the brinks and relive the patriotic spirit of our founding fathers! I believe that together we would rebuild our broken fences, mend our cracked walls, restore hope, and return Nigeria to the path of greatness again. Surely, we can, and we must.”
He insisted that PDP lost the 2019 presidential election because of the massive fraud perpetrated by the APC.
Atiku dismissed insinuations that he had abandoned the party after his defeat in the 2019 presidential election, saying he had been in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), equipping himself with skills to fix the country’s challenges.