Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, kicked off his campaign yesterday in Uyo, with a declaration that a vote for PDP at the 2023 election signified determination to end Nigeria’s intractable problems of insecurity and underdevelopment.
Atiku promised to unify and restructure the country, as well as protect all Nigerians.
He said his administration would create state police to tackle insecurity in every nook and cranny of the country, vowing that he would never disappoint the Nigerian people.
The highpoint of the campaign flag-off attended by thousands of party supporters in the Akwa Ibom State capital was the presentation of PDP flags to candidates contesting various offices by National Chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.
Ayu extended a hand of friendship to aggrieved members of the party and urged them to come back on board for the collective task of rescuing Nigeria.
The PDP vice presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, acknowledged the country’s current challenges, but vouched for Atiku’s ability to fix them.
Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, in his own remarks, expressed confidence in PDP’s capacity for victory at the poll, saying the party would deploy technology to win the presidential election next year.
Atiku said when PDP handed over government to APC in 2015, it handed over the fastest growing economy, where the value of the naira to the dollar was N187.
He lamented that today the exchange rate had gone to nearly N800 to the dollar.
Atiku further more said his northern brothers should not support the Igbo and Yoruba candidates.
He also made mention of how the affairs of Nigeria could no longer be left in the hands of the APC.
He bemoaned the present situation in the country, where children no longer went to school without fear of being kidnapped by bandits.
He regretted the continued closure of public universities due to what he termed the mismanagement of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The former vice president pleaded with Nigerians to vote for PDP, saying a vote for the party would bring an end to poverty, hunger, unemployment, and other ills associated with the APC administration.
