The official flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar has said he sees his victory as a historic moment for Nigeria and its citizens.
Atiku said this minutes after he was declared winner and returned elected as the candidate of the PDP in the just concluded primary election which held in Moshood Abiola stadium, Abuja.
The New Diplomat had reported that the Adamawa-born politician polled a total of 371 votes to defeat his closest rival, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state who polled a total of 237 votes and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki who polled 70 votes.
In his acceptance speech, Atiku declared that the delegates of the party have made the right choice by voting him as the party’s candidate for the forthcoming presidential election.
According to him, the victory marks a milestone in the politics of Nigeria as it will give him the opportunity to address the numerous issues of the country.
He said that with the mandate given to him by the PDP, he is ready address all the shortcomings of the All Progressives Congress-led government and reposition the country for success.
Reeling out his plans for Nigerians, Atiku said he will unify the country. He pointed out that the unity of the country has been jeopardised, adding that he is the man to ensure all Nigerians have a sense of belonging.
He also said he will tackle insecurity to the root and ensure all lives and properties of Nigerians are safe if elected into power in 2023.
Read the full speech below;
“The Chairman of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), members of the National Working Committee(NWC) of our great party, members of the Board of Trustees, let me make a special mention of the electoral panel that conducted this election, our dear delegates, our most respected governors, distinguished ladies and gentleman, today we are making another history.
“A history which we believe will bring about fundamental changes in governance and also in our political processes. Today, we have witnessed another one of the freest elections to be conducted by our great party. Again, today marks another milestone in the process to consolidate our democratic gains.
“You will recall on the 23rd of March this year, when I stood before you and Nigerians and declared my interest to run for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in that statement, I made a commitment to five issues.
“One, to pledge to unify this country. And that was why I refer myself as a unifier. The reason why I feel and I felt that unity is very important for us is because the government of the APC has disunited Nigerians completely, between north and south, east and west, Muslims and Christians, and I therefore pledge that I will work to ensure I restore unity and I get a sense of belonging to all Nigerians, irrespective of their places of origin and irrespective of the faith they practice.
“I also committed that I was going to deal decisively with our security challenges in this country. I also pledged to confront our economic challenges, which were all caused by the APC government. The PDP made Nigeria, one of the most prosperous, if not the most prosperous country on the African continent. We implemented economic reforms, that brought about jobs that brought about prosperity in this country. The APC came and wiped up all those gains.
“That’s why I said today is a very historic day because it is going to give us an opportunity for us to reverse all the misgovernance of the APC government.
“Let me also use this opportunity to call on my fellow contestants and to assure them that I’m ready to cooperate and work with them and give them a sense of belonging in this party and our next government. Therefore, my fellow compatriots, I want to appreciate your efforts in deepening our democratic processes in this party. It was a well fought primary election. So I commend you for that. And I look forward to working with you very closely so that together we can build this party to a level where we can take over the government.
“As I said earlier on in my remarks, I want to appeal to all aggrieved members of our party, that they should please return to our party and we are willing, we are ready, the leadership of the party, our governors, and myself, to make sure that their grievances are resolved within the party. Let me also appeal to aggrieved party members. There are internal mechanisms to resolve all disputes in this party. Let us make use of those internal mechanisms to resolve our disputes in our party instead of going to various law courts and getting contradictory rulings and contradictory judgments.
“It is not going to augur well for the growth of our party. Our party is a very democratic Party, it has internal mechanisms to resolve all disputes. Therefore, I call on all members of our party to make use of those internal mechanisms. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, please, in the name of God, let us remember the poor people of this country, the ordinary people of this country. Let us work to resolve most of their challenges, if not all of their challenges.
“Once again, I want to extend my gratitude to the leadership of our party, to our governors, who have worked day and night to ensure that this convention holds. I pray that from today this party will continue to wax stronger and stronger by the day. Therefore, distinguished ladies and gentleman I cannot end my remarks without saying God bless you all.”
