Atiku Abubakar 


By Deborah Coker


The presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, said on Thursday that his “imminent victory’’ in the upcoming presidential election would be a deliverance for Nigerians.


The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Atiku, a former vice-president of Nigeria is one of the top contenders, in a crowded presidential race, fielding 18 candidates.


Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation is scheduled for another landmark general election, starting from Feb. 25, to mark another streak in a democratic experience that started in 1999.


The PDP Presidential Campaign Council in a statement signed by Chief Dele Momodu in Abuja on Thursday said that Atiku’s recent interactions with all classes of Nigerians in the course of his nationwide campaign confirmed o him that Nigerians needed deliverance.


“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s hustings across all parts of Nigeria confirmed further to him how grievously Nigerians are suffering and how desperately they desire and pray for deliverance.’’


The statement quoted Atiku as expressing his confidence that the steady momentum his campaign was building across Nigeria’s geo-political zones was a demonstration of how connected his manifesto was to the populace.


“The programmes and manifesto aligned and connected with the inner desires, hunger and prayers of millions of Nigerians,’’ the statement added.


The former vice-president expressed his confidence that he would come out victorious in the presidential election on Feb.25.


He declared that his “imminent victory at the polls was symbolic of the deliverance that Nigerians were seeking and praying for’’.


Atiku lashed out at the ruling APC, saying that “the policy designs of the party have left Nigerians in utter despondency.


“The people I met and spoke with — the fishermen in Ogoni, the farmer in Nasarawa, the trader in Anambra, the fabric weaver in Ogun – are all making the same lamentation.


“Above all, the communities in the internally displaced people’s facilities as well as students in cities across Nigeria are unable to see any glimmer upon which to anchor their hopes for a future.


“The images I saw, conveyed to me the impression that ordinary Nigerians have been experiencing the economic hardships caused by the policies of the ruling APC.”


Atiku said further that his confidence was bolstered by the resolve in the eyes and hearts of Nigerians to stand as one and vote for him on Feb. 25.

NAN