Let’s focus on winning elections in 2023, not zoning, Tambuwal tells party | South West PDP leaders insist on southern president | Vote wisely, Makarfi, Daniels,Obi urge electorate | Regulations, guidelines for 2023 polls ready 10 months ahead – INEC
Written By Chibuzo Ukaibe, Tunde Oguntola, George Okojie and Adebayo Waheed
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar will today, for the fifth time since 1999 and sixth in total, declare his intention to contest for the presidency of the country, hence emerging as the most serial presidential contestant in Nigeria’s history.
The former vice president will by his declaration tomorrow in Abuja beat the record of the President Muhammadu Buhari who starting vying for the presidency from 2003 till he won in 2015 on his fourth attempt, securing a second term in 2019 on his fifth.
But Atiku, who has unsuccessfully contested five presidential elections in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019, would declare for the presidency by 2023 by tomorrow, making it the sixth time.
Atiku’s quest for the presidency started in 1993 when he contested the presidential ticket on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) which he lost to the late Moshood Abiola.
In 2007, Atiku ran for president on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) but lost to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and in 2011, he contested on the platform of the then ruling PDP but lost the presidential ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In the build-up to the 2015 election, he contested on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) but lost the ticket to President Muhammadu Buhari. In 2019, Atiku was the PDP presidential candidate but he lost, again, to Buhari who was the incumbent and APC candidate.
Nevertheless, barely a day after the PDP flagged off the sale of presidential forms on March 17, Atiku picked the party’s presidential nomination forms for the 2023 election. A group, the North East Business Community, purchased the forms worth N40 million and presented it to him in Abuja, urging him to run for the country’s top job again.
Credit: Leadership Newspaper