APC group wants Atiku for president

A group within the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Collectives, which is based in the South-West and Kogi State, has urged the party to pick former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate in the 2015 election, saying that his choice will brighten the chances of the APC winning the election as well as put Nigeria on the right path of recovery.

Speaking at a meeting held in Ibadan on Wednesday, a leader of the group, Bode Ajewole, who is a former member of the House of Representatives from Ekiti State, said it was important for the group, which comprises party executives in the zone, to voice its concern for Atiku, ahead of his formal declaration to run for president on September 24. Ajewole said as a democrat and tested politician, Atiku would fit into the status of the kind of leader Nigeria needed to excel.

He said, “This group has decided to work for the emergence of Atiku in the forthcoming APC presidential primary because of members’ strong belief that Nigeria today needs a bridge builder, a detribalised Nigerian with his foothold in all the six geo-political zones of the country.

“His contacts and connections within and outside the country will be of immense benefit to Nigerians if we are lucky to have him as the next President. His success at the primary will be the beginning of the party’s success in the forthcoming presidential election.”

Asked if Atiku would be able to swallow defeat and remain within the APC if he was not picked, the group leader said the former vice president had no intention of returning to the PDP.

“I also left the PDP because the party is bedevilled with people of selfish interest. Even if Atiku loses the bid to get the ticket, it is not a do-or-die affair. He is ready to support whoever the party picks,” he said.