2023 Presidency: Wike, four other PDP governors absent as Atiku flags off campaign in Akwa Ibom
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar on Monday said his party has officially begun the journey to rescue the country from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which according to him, has brought poverty, insecurity and disunity to Nigeria.
The former vice president who said while speaking during his campaign launch in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Monday, promised that he will tackle poverty and insecurity if elected in the 2023 general election.
Abubakar said when the PDP was in power, it “lifted Nigeria from the bottom to the top” and made the country the biggest in economy in Africa.
He said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed to live up to its campaign promises of making the country better than it took over from the PDP.
“Nigeria said they wanted change, and they voted for change in 2015. What have we seen? What we have seen is poverty, insecurity, lack of jobs and disunity,” he said.
“Our children are no longer going to school. Is that what we want to continue with?
“Today, we have flagged off our campaign to rescue Nigeria from hunger, and poverty and to bring back the unity that we require in this country. Therefore, I want to appeal to all Nigerians by standing today in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, to ask them to vote for PDP.
“If you vote for PDP, it will be a return to prosperity; it will be a return to unity; there will be no more hunger and there will be security.”
Speaking on the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Abubakar said: “I swear, if you vote for PDP, you’ll all go back to schools; you will get jobs; there will be security; and there will be unity.”
NewsClick Nigeria reports that at the presidential campaign flag off in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on Monday, Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) were conspicuously absent.
