2023: After consulting OBJ, Atiku dares youth to contest

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said that he would soon officially declare his intention to contest the 2023 presidential race.

Atiku stated this on Saturday, after a closed-door meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his (Obasanjo) residence, in Abeokuta, Ogun.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Atiku was Obasanjo’s vice between 1999 and 2007, and also a Presidential contestant on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 polls.

Atiku, who spoke briefly with newsmen after the meeting that lasted for about an hour, said he was in Abeokuta as part of his usual visit to Obasanjo, his former boss.

He expressed assurances that he would eventually emerge as the PDP presidential flagbearer in the 2023 general elections.

“Have I ever failed to get the ticket? I’m confident that I will still get it,” he said.

When asked for his reaction on the call for the emergence of younger presidential candidates, Atiku responded, “Let the youths compete now. It is a competition. It is democracy.”

Atiku later proceeded to the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, in Ake, Abeokuta, where he recalled his days in Ogun as a trained Customs Officer.

Although, Atiku did not disclose his political intentions at the palace, though the traditional ruler prayed that God would grant him his heart’s desires.