Presidency Advises PDP’s Atiku to End 30-year Presidential Pursuit

The Nigerian Presidency has advised the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to conclude his thirty-year pursuit of the Presidency of Nigeria.

This was in reaction to the remarks at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday where Atiku faulted the Supreme Court’s verdict of October 26, which upheld President Bola Tinubu’s electoral victory.

READ MORE: Supreme Court Ruling: PDP Presidential Aspirant Holds World Press Conference (Full Text)

In a statement titled “Time for Atiku Abubakar to finally go away and end his ambition to be President”, the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, further cautioned the former vice-president against engaging in other activities that might pollute the nation’s political environment.

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According to Onanuga, after more than thirty years of unsuccessful attempts to secure the position of Nigeria’s President, “Atiku must now end his unprofitable bid.”

It would be recalled that the PDP presidential aspirant, Atiku, was a two-term vice-president of Nigeria (1999- 2003; 2003-2007) during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.

Atiku Abubakar has also run unsuccessfully for President of Nigeria six times: in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

TIME FOR ATIKU ABUBAKAR TO FINALLY GO AWAY AND END HIS AMBITION TO BE PRESIDENT

Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate in last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, unraveled on Monday at a press conference in Abuja where… pic.twitter.com/vfjCEDfAT5

— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) October 30, 2023

“…We want to tell Alhaji Atiku this: Nigeria is not doomed. It is only Atiku’s inordinate ambition to be president that is doomed.

“Nigeria is moving forward and set to achieve its manifest destiny as one of the most respected and successful nations of the world under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 

“Contrary to Atiku’s gloomy submission on our democracy, we are excited to tell the world that our democracy is thriving and blossoming.

“It is the reason, for the first time, since 1999 the character of our National Assembly and its outlook reflect the diversity and plurality of the choices and preferences of voters as a rainbow coalition of different parties as opposed to the practice in the past where just two parties dominated the national parliament. 

“In today’s Nigeria, votes count.

“…The PDP candidate lost because Nigerians preferred Bola Ahmed Tinubu and voted for him to be president.

“…Now as we get to the proper business of governance after Atiku’s unwarranted distraction, we have picked some clear lessons going forward.

“We want to advise Atiku that after over three decades of elusive bid for the Presidency of Nigeria, he must now end his unprofitable bid and go away from any venture that will further pollute the political atmosphere and national harmony,” the statement read in part.