3rd December, 2017
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has declared that he is not afraid of contesting against President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.
Atiku told Dele Momodu, publisher of The Boss newspaper in Lagos that Nigerians will make their choice in 2019 and that he is free to contest the election.
On whether he’s afraid of Buhari, Atiku fired back: “No, definitely not. Buhari is free to contest and I’m free to contest. And Nigerians will make their choice.”
The Turaki Adamawa also explained that there was nothing wrong with his movement from one party to the other in his quest to achieve his presidential dream.
“There is nothing wrong with it. Ours is a fledgling democracy of barely two decades since the end of the last military regime. What it means is that the political parties are yet to mature and are going through constant transformations and changes. That is why even President Buhari has been able to move from party to party, including ANPP, CPC and now APC. And for those who read about world history and political books like I do, they will know that Abraham Lincoln, Sir Winston Churchill and others went through so much before achieving their dreams…”
“I’m not different. I know what I want for my country. I’ve served Nigeria in different capacities and I am one of the most experienced leaders around today. There is no part of Nigeria I’m not familiar with. I have friends everywhere. They know me and I know them.
The benefit of being around for so long is that they have come to know me for certain principles and know that I have a rich knowledge of Nigeria and what it would take to move us to the height of greatness. They can also trust me that I’m not coming to government to steal their money. God has blessed me with business acumen. How can you run a nation if you cannot run your own business? I run my businesses to international standards. Let any of those who want to compete with me show what they have managed successfully.
I’ve lifted over 45,000 families out of joblessness and poverty through my microfinance company in my State Adamawa and we’ve have empowered mostly women. The good news is these women have been very honest. Returns on our loans have been about 98 percent. They have not disappeared with the loans given then. We plan to replicate this nationwide…” he said.