Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has re-elected former vice president, Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2023 Elections.
The 75-year-old, who was the party’s candidate in the 2019 elections, emerged as its candidate again for the 2023 Elections after polling 371 votes in the presidential primary of the PDP held in the federal capital, Abuja.
He beat competition from his main contender, Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who garnered 237 votes, to secure the ticket.
Atiku Abubakar has been aspiring for the presidency of the Federal Republic since the 90s. In 1993, he contested the Social Democratic Party’s presidential primaries but lost to Moshood Abiola and Baba Gana.
He later, after serving as vice president under Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, became the presidential candidate of the Action Congress in the 2007 presidential election, coming in third to Umaru Yar’Adua of the PDP, who won that elections, and Muhammadu Buhari of the ANPP.
Mr. Atiku, again, contested the PDP’s presidential primaries in the lead up to the 2011 elections, losing out to the then incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan.
He then defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 and contested the party’s presidential primaries ahead of the 2015 Elections but lost to Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2017, he returned to the PDP and finally became the party’s presidential candidate for the 2019 elections but lost to Mr. Buhari again.
