Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections, arrived at the party’s headquarters on Wednesday to receive his Certificate of Return from the National Working Committee (NWC).
Bukola Saraki, Sam Ohuabunwa, Nwachukwu Anakwenze, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen are among the presidential candidates who competed in the primary who are present at the party’s office.
Nyesom Wike, Atiku’s closest rival, was however absent at the time this report was filed.
Atiku emerged victorious in Abuja’s presidential primaries on Saturday.
This will be the 75-year-sixth old’s run for the nation’s highest office.
He was also the PDP’s candidate in the 2019 presidential election, which President Muhammadu Buhari won.
Atiku, 75, received 371 votes to defeat Wike’s 237 votes. Bukola Saraki, a former Senate President and governor of the state of Kwara, received 70 votes.
The remaining votes were distributed between Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom (38), Bala Mohammed of Bauchi (38), a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim (14), Mrs. Tari Diana Oliver (1), and Sam Ohuabunwa (1).
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State withdrew from the race minutes prior to the start of the election at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja, urging his supporters to vote for the former Nigerian vice president.
He stated that the decision was made after consulting with his associates and described it as a “patriotic conclusion” on the same day that another candidate, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, withdrew from the election.