The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has congratulated governors whose elections were upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday.
The apex court on Friday upheld the elections of opposition parties governors, Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Caleb Muftwang (Plateau), and Abba Yusuff (Kano).
The former vice president who congratulated the governors in a statement by his media office, on Friday also declared readiness to lead a coalition of opposition political parties against the All Progressives Congress.
The PDP presidential candidate recently proposed a merger of all opposition political parties while hosting the National Executive Committee of the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria.
He said, “We have all seen how the APC is increasingly turning Nigeria into a dictatorship of one party. If we don’t come together to challenge what the ruling party is trying to create, our democracy will suffer for it, and the consequences of it will affect the generations yet unborn.”
Atiku, while reacting to the Supreme Court’s judgment in favour of governors elected on the platform of the PDP and New Nigeria Peoples Party, insisted that only a united opposition force can salvage Nigeria.
The former vice president who described the court’s judgment as a win for democracy, said the decision of the court is good news to the people of Bauchi, Plateau, Akwa Ibom, and Zamfara states.
The statement read, “The PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election also congratulated the Governor of Kano State, Gov. Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, reaffirming his position that only a united opposition force can strengthen democracy in Nigeria. I am as prepared as ever, to lead the charge, alongside all our leaders and Governors, for the good of our country.
“Where justice is seen to have been substantially rendered, we, as patriots and citizens, will always applaud.
“There is a guaranteed continuation of the standards of good governance which the PDP has brought to the respective states.”
Atiku further urged the respective PDP governors, Bauchi, Zamfara, Plateau, and Kano to see their victories at the Supreme Court as an opportunity to consolidate and expand the scope of good governance.
Atiku noted that with the electioneering phase now concluded, he is certain that the PDP will now be able to focus on its role as the major opposition party in the country.
