Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has pledged to continue his quest for Nigeria\u2019s presidency as long as his health allows. Drawing inspiration from former American President Abraham Lincoln, who famously persevered through multiple election defeats before reaching the White House, Atiku remains undeterred despite his previous losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I will keep contesting again and again as long as I am alive and healthy,\u201d Atiku stated during an interview with the Hausa service of the Voice of America in Abuja.<\/p>\n
At 77, Atiku was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2019 and 2023 elections, where he was defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari and incumbent President Bola Tinubu, respectively. Having served as vice president to former President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007, Atiku will be 81 by the time of the next presidential election in 2027.<\/p>\n
Despite his age, Atiku reiterated his commitment to his political aspirations. \u201cEven the former US President Abraham Lincoln contested seven times before finally winning,\u201d he noted. However, Atiku acknowledged the challenges within the PDP and emphasized the need for strong support and collaboration with other parties to secure an election victory.<\/p>\n
In a recent interview, Atiku expressed his willingness to support the PDP’s decision if the party chooses to zone the 2027 presidential ticket to the South-East and select Peter Obi as its candidate. \u201cI have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won\u2019t contest it. As long as it\u2019s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party,\u201d Atiku stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the party decides that it\u2019s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi is chosen, I won\u2019t hesitate to support him,\u201d he added in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service.<\/p>\n
Addressing speculations about his meetings with Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Atiku described them as routine interactions among opposition leaders. \u201cIt\u2019s just a normal friendly meeting that we often have, particularly among us in the opposition parties. Such meetings are healthy for Nigeria\u2019s democracy and in the country\u2019s interest,\u201d Atiku explained.<\/p>\n
When asked about the possibility of a merger with other opposition parties, Atiku confirmed the feasibility. \u201cYes, it\u2019s very much possible. We can merge to achieve a common goal. So, it\u2019s possible, and nothing can stop it if we wish to achieve that,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has pledged to continue his quest for Nigeria\u2019s presidency as long as his health allows. Drawing inspiration from former American President Abraham Lincoln, who famously persevered through multiple election defeats before reaching the White House, Atiku remains undeterred despite his previous losses. \u201cOf course, I will keep contesting again and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32282"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32295,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32282\/revisions\/32295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}