Atiku will contest 2023 presidency – Son

Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, will again seek elected president of the country in the next presidential election, his son who is the commissioner for Works and Energy in Adamawa State said at the weekend.

Adamu Abubakar, made this known while presenting the scorecard of what his ministry has done in the state in the last one year.

“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,” Mr Abubakar was quoted by Punch Newspapers to have said.

The former vice president had in the last election sought to oust President Muhammadu Buhari who was seeking another term in office. He contested under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the time.

Popularly known as Atiku, he failed to dethrone Mr Buhari who trounced him with nearly 4 million votes to secure another four-year tenure which winds down in 2023.

The president and his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) booted out the PDP from power in 2015. The now opposing party has been in power since the return to democracy in 1999.

If he decides to contest the next presidential election, it will be the third time he is seeking to be elected president. He first tried and failed under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2007. The second attempt under the PDP in 2019 was unsuccessful.

Although, he is currently in the PDP which is yet to zone the position, some individuals who consider themselves influential in the opposition party are pushing for the zoning of its next presidential ticket to the Southern region. If they succeed, Atiku’s chances of recontesting in the next election using the party will be closed. He will either shop for another party or shelve his ambition.