PDP presidential ticket: Atiku begs party for right of first refusal

…Says APC has failed Nigerians

…..We ‘ll be fair to all, by Ayu

By Folorunso Alagbede, Abuja

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has described himself as the best candidate for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, disclosing that he already has eleven million votes in his kitty.

Atiku, who was the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 presidential election, disclosed on Thursday during an interactive session with members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party at its National secretariat in Abuja.

He specifically told the NWC members of the PDP that they should give him the first right of refusal concerning the presidential ticket of the leading opposition party in the country.

He urged the Dr Iyorchia Ayu-led NWC members to be very fair and credible by allowing all aspirants the opportunity to face the electorate.

Atiku, who abandoned his prepared speech at the session with the national leaders of the PDP and spoke extemporaneously, said, “I dare say Mr. chairman, I am the best candidate. “Under normal circumstances Mr. Chairman, this is a guy who has already 11 million votes in his kitty. And I think, as a party, you should give me the right of first refusal, but we are in a democracy.

“All what I can urge you is to make sure that the way you have started, you also conclude by being very fair, very credible, giving every contestant the opportunity to face the electorate”, he said.

Atiku, who said that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has failed the nation and the citizenry, warned that nobody should take Nigerians for granted.

According to him, “We all know, every Nigeria knows, that the APC has failed, but we should not take Nigerians for granted. We should go all out to let them know APC has failed, It will continue to fail.

“No matter what gap they have come or they appear to be, they will continue to fail and PDP has not failed on your comparative analysis.

“If you compare the achievements of PDP and the failure of APC, you know that you have no any other choice than PDP”, he said.

Speaking at the session, the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu tasked the seventeen presidential aspirants of the party to continue to canvass for votes across the breadth of this country.

Ayu pleaded with the aspirants to avoid attacking each others, but remain as members of the sane family.

His words,  “I also want to plead with you not to attack each other. You must remain as members of one family. You must continue to hold meetings and visit each other and call each other on the phone.

“You must continue to relate, to try and create the necessary synergy, because whoever emerges as a candidate will need the others to win the presidential election.

“No single person can, on his or her own, go  around Nigeria and canvass for votes and win an election. We all need each other.

“We need every single presidential aspirant, governorship,  members of the NWC every member of the PDP family and I want to assure you that this internal process as a National Working Committee, we will try to follow the tradition of the People’s Democratic Party since 1999.

“PDP has never had a controversial convention, we always have a transparent convention. From the one that produced President Obasanjo in jos in 1999, to the last one that produced you in Port Harcourt”, he said.