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Who is Atiku Abubakar of the PDP party?

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By Okunloye Abiodun

A businessman and politician that aims to restore Nigeria's economy - Atiku.

Atiku Abubakar is a Nigerian political figure and businessman born in Jada, Adamawa, on November 25, 1946. He was the country’s vice president from 1999 to 2007 while Olusegun Obasanjo was in charge. Before enrolling in the School of Hygiene in Kano in 1966, he worked briefly as a Tax Officer in the Regional Ministry of Finance after finishing his secondary studies at Adamawa Provincial Secondary School. In 1967, he received his diploma after serving as interim student union president. Also in 1967, he received a scholarship from the government of his region to attend the Institute of Administration at Ahmadu Bello University to get a Diploma in Law. He joined the Nigeria Customs Service after graduation in 1969, working there throughout the country’s civil war.

After 20 years of service in the Nigeria Customs Service, where he rose to the post of Deputy Director, which was the service’s second-highest position, he retired in April 1989 to focus on business and governance full-time. At the beginning of his time as a Customs Officer, he worked in the real estate business. Earning a Master of Arts in International Relations from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, United Kingdom, in 2021. In the early 1980s, he made his political entrance by aiding Bamanga Tukur governorship campaign, which is then the director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, in his bid for governor. To provide assistance he donated to Tukur’s campaign and personally solicited votes on his behalf. He worked for Customs for many years and eventually crossed paths with General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

Previous campaigns maintained his steady aspiration despite challenges.

He has run for Nigeria’s presidency five times but has never won. He ran in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. In 1993, he lost the Social Democratic Party primary elections to Moshood Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe. In the 2007 presidential election, he ran as a candidate for the Action Congress. He came in third, behind Umaru Yar’Adua of the PDP as well as Muhammadu Buhari of the ANPP. During the 2011 presidential race, he contested for the People’s Democratic Party’s nomination for president but lost to Goodluck Jonathan. Joining the All Progressives Congress in readiness for the 2015 election, he contested in the party’s primaries but finally came in second place to Muhammadu Buhari. In 2017, he went back to the Peoples Democratic Party. In 2019, he ran for office as the party’s candidate, but he lost again to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Following his victory against Nyesom Wike and other candidates at the party primary elections in Abuja, he emerges as the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate for the general election of 2023 with Ifeanyi Okowa at the running mate. The selection of Atiku as the party presidential candidate has been lauded as a major victory by PDP BoT Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman Walid Jibrin. According to him, his victory paved the path for all Nigerians in the upcoming 2023 elections. He stated that the BoT would further support the party as well as Mr Abubakar.

The plan of restoration and economic advancement revealed.

When campaigning in Katsina, He made the promise that, should he be elected president of Nigeria in 2023, he would open all of the country’s borders and work to restore peace and security. He also said he would get students back into school and ready to learn. He made the pledge at Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina city, the site of his campaign rally. During his speech, Atiku claimed that the seven years of rule by the All Progressives Congress APC had given nothing but insecurity and starvation to the people of Nigeria. His vice presidential candidate Okowa has remarked that Nigeria is in a difficult circumstance and requires a trustworthy leader to free it from its current predicament.

In addition to that, he has guaranteed that the economy of Nigeria will be brought back to life. If successful in the 2023 presidency, he further vowed to set the country on a course of sustainable development and growth. He emphasized that he was in a competition to repair, save, rebuild, and reconfigure Nigeria and place it on the route to growth and progress. He reaffirmed their five-point plan, which is to reunite Nigeria, reinstate security; make elementary school mandatory and prevent strikes at institutions; jumpstart the country’s economy; improve the nation’s roads and rails, and increase the efficiency of transportation.

He has supported the international peace corps initiative.

The National Peace Peace Corps Association (NPCA), an independent nonprofit organization that operates as an alumni body for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, awarded Abubakar with Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award in 2011 during the US Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary. Abubakar was recognized by the National Peace Corps Association for his contributions to African higher education. According to NPCA, Atiku Abubakar has done more for democracy and higher education than any African private businessman. He gave $750,000 to the US National Peace Corps Association in 2012 to sponsor a new effort featuring global leaders discussing Peace Corps’ impact. It was the Association’s largest single donation.


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