Ibrahim Babangida, former military ruler, has stated why he is now
supporting the candidature of Atiku Abubakar, the 2019 presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).
Mr Babangida,
fondly called IBB, declared his support for Mr Abubakar after the latter
emerged victorious at the elective presidential primary of the PDP in
Port Harcourt on Sunday.
Abubakar, popularly known as Atiku,
defeated 11 aspirants of the party to clinch the ticket. He will then
have to slug it out with incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari who is
seeking a second term in office in the 2019 general elections.
Babangida
who had earlier declared his support for Bukola Saraki, President of
the 8th Senate, backed down when his preferred aspirant could not clinch
the party’s ticket.
The former military ruler reacting
to the victory of the former vice president at the primary,
congratulated Atiku and has now declared his support for the PDP
candidate.
He stated his reason for doing so.
“One of the
few reasons I admire Atiku is because he is one of the very few
politicians who has a lot of investments in Nigeria; for some of these
reasons, he has my blessings,” Mr Babangida said in a statement on
Sunday.
“We shall Atikulate together in 2019, my congratulations to him,” he added.
Already, Mr Saraki has congratulated the former number two citizen of the country.
“I
congratulate our Presidential Candidate, Your Excellency, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, for your victory,” Mr Saraki said in a statement on Sunday.
“You have stayed on course over the years and truly, you deserve this victory.
“We always knew from Day 1 that only one candidate would emerge.
“On
behalf of all the aspirants, I want to assure Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
that we will work with you to ensure that come 2019, you emerge as
Nigeria’s next President,” the top lawmaker added.
