Adamu Atiku-Abubakar, a son of the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 Presidential election, has said that his father, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, will contest for the number one Office in the country, come 2023.
Atiku’s son who is the Commissioner for Works and Energy in Adamawa State, disclosed this while presenting the score card of his Ministry, as the administration of Governor Ahmadu Finitiri celebrates one year in Office.
His words: “Personally, I do not see anything wrong with my father contesting for the Presidency. In 2023, my father will be aspiring to the number one Office in the land, because he has been an astute, strategic, Master Politician, for almost four decades.”
Recall, that Atiku had contested for the number position for five times and lost.
He launched a bid for the Presidency in 1993, placing third after late M. K. O. Abiola, and Babagana Kingibe, in the Social Democratic Party, SDP, primaries.
On 25th November, 2006, Atiku announced that he would run for President. On 20th December, 2006, he was chosen as the Presidential Candidate of the Action Congress, AC.
On 14th March, 2007, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, released the final list of 24 Aspirants for the 21st April Presidential election. Atiku’s name was missing from the ballot. INEC issued a statement saying that Atiku’s name was missing, because he was on a list of persons indicted for corruption by a Panel set up by the government.
Atiku headed to the court on 16th March, to have his disqualification overturned. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on 16th April, that INEC had no power to disqualify Candidates.
The ruling allowed Atiku to contest the election, although there were concerns that it might not be possible to provide ballots with Atiku’s name by 21st April, the date of the election. On 17th April, a Spokesman for INEC, said that Atiku would be on the ballot.
According to the official results, Atiku took third place, behind the PDP Candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua, and All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, Candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, with approximately 7 percent of the vote (2.6 million votes). Atiku rejected the election results, and called for its cancellation, describing it as Nigeria’s “worst election ever”.
He stated that he would not attend Umaru Yar’Adua’s inauguration on 29th May, due to his view that the election was not credible, saying that, he did not want to “dignify such a hollow ritual with my presence”.
Following the 2007 elections, Atiku returned to the PDP. In October 2010, he announced his intention to contest for the Presidency. On 22nd November, a Committee of Northern Elders selected him as the Northern Consensus Candidate, over former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, former National Security Adviser, Aliyu Gusau, and Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State.
In January 2011, Abubakar contested for the Presidential ticket of his party, alongside Goodluck Jonathan and Sarah Jubril, and lost the primary, garnering 805 votes to Jonathan’s 2,736.
Atiku declared his candidacy for the Presidential nomination of the PDP, mid 2018, and won the nomination at its Convention on 7th October. He defeated 11 other contestants and got 1,532 votes, 839 more than the runner-up, the Governor of Sokoto State Aminu Tambuwal.
On February 27, 2019, Atiku lost the Presidential race to President Muhammadu Buhari.
