The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar yesterday in Enugu asked for the support of the Igbo, and declared that he remains a stepping stone to a president of Igbo extraction.
Atiku spoke during a crucial meeting with PDP South East stakeholders at the BASE Event Centre, saying he has severally demonstrated his readiness to hand over to the people of the zone if they support him to ascend the office of the presidency in 2023.
“I am the stepping stone for Igbos to become President of Nigeria,” he said, maintaining that he would win the 2023 presidential polls.
Atiku said he would prioritise developmental projects in South-East and other regions of the country, adding that any project sited in any state of the federation is not a favour to such state rather a favour to Nigeria.
“The second Niger Bridge in Onitsha is not a favour to the South-East; rather it is or should be seen as a favour to Nigeria.
This is because it is not only the people of the South-East that use the bridge,” Atiku said.
On his relationship with the Igbo, the former Vice-President said that he had close relationship with the Igbos which influenced his choices of Senator Ben Obi and Mr. Peter Obi as his running mates in his two previous outings as Presidential candidate, adding that he has chose another Igbo (Ifeanyi Okowa) for the third time as his running mate.
Atiku added: “I have three Igbo children and I am saying this for the very first time in public.”
Atiku listed five cardinal areas his administration would pay close attention to include but are not limited to tackling insecurity, economic and other challenges bedevilling the country.
He said that his first agenda would be to restore Nigeria’s unity through cooperation; establish a strong and effective government that guarantees the safety and security of lives and properties.
He promised to build a strong, resilient and prosperous economy that creates jobs and lifts people out of poverty.
He also promised to promote a true federal system that will provide a strong federal government to create national unity while allowing the federating units to set up their own priorities such as state police. Meanwhile, Atiku’s running mate, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, lamented that Nigeria had never been more polarized and disunited as it is under the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership.
