Former vice president and presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday demanded the right of first refusal from the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku while informing the NWC of his desire to seek the party’s nomination to contest the 2023 presidential election, reminded them of his long-standing relationship with most, if not all members of the party’s NWC.
Atiku said, “Very many of you in this National Working Committee, have interacted with me politically and otherwise for a very, very long time. I don’t have to tell you what I am. What qualifications I have and what I can do for this party and for this country.
According to him, his desire to lead Nigeria was anchored on his desire to unify Nigerians, secure their lives and property, as well as improve the economy among other things.
“Secondly, I said I was going to deal with security issues there has to be security before anything else. Mr Chairman and members of the NWC, about 7 months ago.
“I was on a visit to Niger State and I decided to pay a courtesy call on the Governor and the Governor told me ‘Sir, we have about 12 local governments which are under the control of bandits, we don’t know how to conduct elections in those local governments and I went to the President and said we need more policemen and the President said ‘how can I give you more policemen when the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission are in the court on who will recruit policemen.’ I cannot be that kind of President.”
He further said, “And that is where we are as at today, we cannot recruit policemen because the two agencies are in court, we have a president who cannot be heads of two agencies under control, his own heads of the department, not even ministers.
“I’m not going to be that kind of President because you and I Mr Chairman have worked in the same cabinet before.
“I’m here to inform you of my decision to run again. I urge you to provide the environment for the best candidate to emerge. Mr Chairman, I dare say I’m the best candidate.
“Under normal circumstances, this is a guy who already has 11 million votes in the kitty and I feel like a party, I should be given the right of first refusal.
“But we are in a democracy all that I can urge you is that the way you have started you should continue by being very fair, very credible and give every contestant to face the electorate. “
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