{"id":23611,"date":"2022-05-09T04:25:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T04:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/broadnews\/?p=23611"},"modified":"2022-05-09T04:25:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T04:25:34","slug":"2023-atiku-visits-osun-oyo-woos-pdp-delegates-ahead-of-presidential-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/broadnews\/2022\/05\/09\/2023-atiku-visits-osun-oyo-woos-pdp-delegates-ahead-of-presidential-primary\/","title":{"rendered":"2023: Atiku visits Osun, Oyo, woos PDP delegates ahead of presidential primary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday canvassed for votes from delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo and Osun, ahead of the party\u2019s presidential primary slated for May 28.<\/span><\/h1>\n

Abubakar, who identified himself as a son of Osun<\/a>, due to his marriage to Titi, one of his wives, from Ilesa Town, urged the delegates to give him their supports during the primary.<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
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Abubakar is one of the PDP presidential aspirants seeking the party\u2019s ticket for the 2023 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Atiku, addressing the delegates at the party\u2019s Secretariat in Osogbo, said he needed their supports to win the ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are preparing for our presidential primary and as usual, there are delegates from Osun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to appeal to you (delegates), request and plead with you, once again, to give me, your own son and family member, the opportunity to win this election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are serious challenges in the country and we cannot entrust these challenges to somebody who do not have\u00a0 the experience to deal with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1999, under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo, as Vice President, we faced similar challenges when we came in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was lack of unity, debts and Nigeria had no foreign reserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we did was that we brought all the political parties into the government to form the government of national unity, which provided us with peace, stability and unity to govern.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience and attribute are what I will bring onboard to address the disunity and other challenges facing the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, I can assure you that every part of the country will have a sense of belonging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Atiku said, if elected,\u00a0he would\u00a0 support restructuring and tackle the nation\u2019s economy crisis, by engaging experienced and talented Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, to run his administration.<\/p>\n

He, however, appealed for unity among the PDP members in the state.<\/p>\n

The aspirant said\u00a0that\u00a0Osun would be a stepping stone to his presidential ambition, based on the outcome of the forthcoming governorship election in July 16 in the state.<\/p>\n

He said PDP lost the last governorship election in the state due to disunity and disagreement within the party, adding that similar crisis was happening again ahead of the governorship<\/a> election.<\/p>\n

Atiku appealed to the party leadership in the state and the state PDP caretaker committee to unite all the warring parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you all to unite and make sure you win this forthcoming gubernatorial election, no matter the differences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Dr Adekunle Akindele, the Osun PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman,\u00a0said his committee was working to unite all the warring and aggrieved members in the party.<\/p>\n

Akindele said that the committee was working toward resolving the crisis within the party.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Sen. Dino Melaye, introducing Atiku and his entourage, appealed to delegates from Osun not to be swayed by money bags during the party primary in Abuja.<\/p>\n

Atiku had on Saturday met the party delegates in Oyo State at the party secretariat in Molete, Ibadan, where he promised to tackle what he described as disunity in the country.<\/p>\n

According to him, every part of the country, every ethnicity and every religion will be given a sense of belonging, if given the opportunity to rule.<\/p>\n

He also promised to address issue of insecurity squarely in ensuring that lives and property of Nigerians were secured.<\/p>\n

He recalled that PDP administration from 1999 to 2015, stabilised the nation\u2019s economy, saying the party would bring back the nation\u2019s glorious economic days, if Nigerians return PDP to power.<\/p>\n

Atiku promised that, if given the opportunity, he would work toward constitutional reform so that more powers and resources could be devolved to various components of the country, from the state to the local governments.<\/p>\n

He said people were closer to government at the grassroots, adding that that the local governments should be more empowered to perform their statutory responsibilities to the people.<\/p>\n

He urged Nigerians to put their confidence in PDP and allow the party to return to power so as to provide good governance again.<\/p>\n

The PDP Chairman in Oyo State, Mr Dayo Ogungbenro, while describing Atiku as one of the greatest leaders in the country, said Nigerians needed to return PDP to power.<\/p>\n

Ogungbenro described Atiku as \u201ca leader of note, who has what it takes to lead the country\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n