Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says he is confident of beating incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari if he gets Peoples Democratic Party, PDP presidential ticket for the 2019 general elections.
Atiku who decamped from ruling All Progressives Congress, APC about two weeks ago is yet to declare for any party.
But he told Mr Dele Momodu, the publisher of Ovation Magazine that the PDP is already waiting to receive him in excerpts of exclusive interview published in The Boss newspaper on Saturday.
Atiku told the newspaper that he is the candidate who can help PDP regain the presidency in 2019.
“Nothing is absolutely certain in this life, but PDP needs a candidate with the brightest chance and that can only come from someone who has major experience, exposure, knowledge about running an economy, who is a Nationalist and not a sectionalist and whose brand cannot be intimidated in anyway by that of the current President.
If PDP picks a weak candidate, then the Party is doomed. Some of those whose names are being touted and bandied about have not grown beyond their immediate domains.”
On likely outcome of the contest against Buhari whom he lost the APC presidential ticket to in 2014, Atiku said, “I will definitely beat him this time. He has wasted a lot of his massive goodwill. A lot of people are disgruntled but keeping quiet and lying low.
“ Our youths are suffering terribly and now they are being sold into slavery. Everyone knows my track record of inviting and attracting a good team and giving them the opportunity to work professionally. Nigerians are tired of leaders who cannot think big and work big. Dele, I will be ready from day one…”
The former Vice President who added that Buhari is free to contest and Nigerians should be allowed to make their choice said he left APC because after Buhari won the election, he was no longer interested in the party that made him President.
“Every activity stopped and not even the Party Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, could take any decision. I called Chief Oyegun a few times to tell him our Party was dying slowly but he told me he would not do anything unless he got clearance from the President.
“At a stage, I gathered about 18 prominent members and began to meet in the hope that we can re-energise Party activities, but some people lied to the President that I wanted to use the forum to launch my Presidential campaign.
“That forum became simply dead on arrival. No BOT, no NEC meetings, as stipulated in our Constitution. The Party became a one-man property. Everyone grumbles behind the President’s back but they are too timid to raise a voice against the illegalities being perpetuated. I should be bold enough to know what I want, and can do so at my age, so I decided to leave…”