2015 Elections: Atiku Announces Presidency Bid

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News, Politics Friday, September 5th, 2014

Former vice-president Atiku Abubakar Friday became the first high profile politician to announce his candidacy for the presidency at next year’s general elections.

His spokesman Garba Shehu, who made this known through an email on Friday said a formal declaration will be made on September 24.

“This is not about me, it is about our young people. It is about Nigerians,” Abubakar said.

“It is their future, not the past. It is about reforming government, securing the people and reconciling the nation.”

Abubakar is seeking to be the main opposition All Progressives Congress’s candidate (APC) at the February 14, 2015 vote.

The former Vice President, an indigene of Adama, northeast Nigeria, was in government as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and made two unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 2007 and 2011.

The 67-year-old announced in February that he was joining the APC because he said the PDP of President Goodluck Jonathan “cannot be redeemed”, as it had not improved governance or tackled corruption.

Primaries for the parties’ candidates begin in October, according to an election commission timetable.