 said the party cannot afford to fail Nigerians.){kind=link}
…Pays Tribute To Obasanjo
FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the party cannot afford to fail Nigerians.
Atiku Abubakar polled 1532 votes to get the ticket, defeating his closest rival the Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, who polled 693 votes at the party’s National Convention held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Atiku said this in his acceptance speech, an obviously elated Atiku thanked the delegates and the leadership of the party for the confidence reposed in him and promised to work with the 11 other aspirants to work for the victory of the party in 2019.
“Today, we are witnessing a landmark event because the rebranding of the PDP and the return of democratic governance in this country, we are witnessing the most credible, transparent and fairest primaries.
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“I am prepared to listen to you, to take your advice so that together we can be part of the success.
“I believe we have learnt our lessons and we shall continue to improve on this,” he said even as he thanked Governor Wike and the government and people of Rivers for playing a good host to Nigerians while the convention lasted.
Atiku said the PDP “cannot afford to fail Nigerians who have seen the failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are now prepared to return the PDP back to power.
“It is not just enough to say APC has failed but the PDP must be able to offer solutions to the challenges affecting this nation. That is the only way to take over power from this clueless government.
“Let us not get intoxicated by power but we should build on the achievements recorded in the past few days,” he added.
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On a personal note, Atiku thanked his former boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo whom he said provided him with the political tutelage which has provided him with the requisite knowledge to deliver on the biggest stage.
Speaking on behalf of other aspirants, Senator Saraki thanked and congratulated members of the convention planning committee for coming out with what he called “the most credible primary election in the history of the nation. He pledged the readiness of all the contestants to work with Atiku to bring victory to the PDP.
“We are you and we are confident that come May 29, 2019, the green, white, red colours of the party will be hoisted as we take over power in our country,” he added.
On his part, the PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to learn from the convention exercise, saying the party has shown that free, fair and credible elections are still possible.