2023: Atiku has nothing to offer — Adeyanju
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar may as well resign from politics, Nigerian activist Deji Adeyanju has suggested.
Adeyanju’s comment trails calls in some quarters for Atiku, who is currently a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to run for president again in 2023.
I have nothing against Atiku and like I said during the 2019 election, he’s better than Buhari,” Adeyanju, who is convener of rights group Concerned Nigerians, tweeted on Tuesday.
“In fact, anyone is better than Buhari. Atiku has nothing to offer in the new political reality of 2023 because the game has drastically changed.”
Adeyanju had earlier warned PDP against fielding Atiku for the 2023 presidential election.
Adeyanju said that PDP would remain the opposition party for another eight years if Atiku emerged as the party’s presidential candidate in 2023 because a large section of the country considers the former VP a corrupt politician.
Despite speculations, Atiku has not come out to signify interest in running for the presidency.
Atiku has run for president many times but has never won.
In 1993, he contested the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential primaries losing to Moshood Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe.
Atiku twice ran as Governor of Adamawa State in 1990 and later, in 1998, being elected before becoming Olusegun Obasanjo’s running mate during the 1999 presidential election and re-elected in 2003.
Atiku was a presidential candidate of the Action Congress (AC) in the 2007 presidential election.
He contested the presidential primaries of the PDP for the 2011 presidential election losing to President Goodluck Jonathan.
In 2014, Atiku joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2015 presidential election and contested the presidential primaries losing to Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2017, Atiku returned to the PDP and was the party presidential candidate during the 2019 presidential election, again losing to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
