A day after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared the stage set for interested candidates to pick nomination forms into various elective offices, former Vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has picked his form for the presidential race. The PDP had on Wednesday after its National Executive (NEC) Meeting in Abuja declared the floor open for all interested candidates vying for any elective office, the party also disclosed that it would conduct its national convention to nominate its presidential candidate for the 2023 general election come May 29th, 2022.
The party has also set guidelines for the conduct of its primaries for all elective positions, pegging the presidential expression of interest form for N5million while the nomination form goes for N35million.
Meanwhile, the party is yet to fix the venue for the primary election.
Accordingly, the Northeast Business Forum, led by its chair, Alhaji Abubakar Dalhatu Funakaye, purchased the expression of interest and the nomination form for Atiku, saying it was in fulfillment to redeem the promise they made to the former vice president sometimes last year.
It was disclosed that Atiku will make his declaration to vie for the presidency next week Wednesday in Abuja.
While thanking the group for believing in him, Atiku called on Nigerians to engage in a collective fight against the country challenge, saying that the Nigerian problem is greater than an individual, promising that he would want to see a country void of religion or tribal sentiment.
Atiku said, “We have never faced these challenges before. Our unity is threatened; our economy is in its worst state of affairs and our security is a disaster.
“We should all address these challenges together because they require all hands on deck. Nation-building is not an easy job let alone a nation faced with these challenges.”
He reiterated that “differences of ethnicity and religion are not in my character.”
The former vice president promised Nigerians that they will all have a sense of belonging when they chose to entrust him with their mandate, noting that though is not going to be an easy task.
He thanked the Northeast businessmen for making sacrifices of purchasing form for him despite the biting economic hardship.
In a remark, Chairman of DAAR Communication, Raymond Dokpesi, said: “We are fully ready to salvage Nigeria; we are set to confront various challenges.
“We are concerned about security, the welfare of the country, about youths and women too.”
Dokpesi said, “We will declare interest to run for the presidency on Wednesday.”
