Nigerians are yearning for the return of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to power, the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, said on Sunday morning.

He also spoke of his preparedness to work with other party members by listening to their advice as the party repositions to return to power during the 2019 general elections.

The former Vice President spoke in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, shortly after he emerged as the PDP Presidential Candidate after polling 1,532 votes to defeat 11 other contestants including Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who scored 693 votes and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who came third with 317 votes.

Rabiu Kwankwaso polled 158 votes, Ibrahim Dankwambo (111 votes), Sule Lamido (96 votes), Ahmed Makarfi (74 votes), Tanimu Turaki (65 votes), Attahiru Bafarawa (48 votes), David Mark (35 votes), Jonah Jang (19 votes), and Datti Ahmed (5 votes).

Atiku said in his acceptance speech: “Mr. Chairman of our great party, members of the NWC, the Chairman and members of the Convention Planning Committee, Governor Okowa, my fellow aspirants and compatriots, Your Excellencies Governors, Distinguished Party Chairmen, party members, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen.

“Today, we are witnessing a landmark event. A landmark event in the sense that since the rebranding of our great party, the PDP, since the return of democratic rule or governance in this country, we have witnessed the most credible, transparent and fair primaries.

“Let me also commend my fellow competitors or aspirants for displaying a sense of unity, a sense of purpose and a sense of commitment. This is a very rare event. My fellow compatriots have rarely shown that the interest of the party and that of the people of this country is paramount and more important than our individual interest.

“I want to pay tribute to each and every one of them and to assure them that I am ever ready to work with each and every one of them for the realisation of the victory of our party in the forthcoming elections. I cannot do it alone. I need your support, I need your assistance, I need your understanding and I need your participation.

“It is not a one man’s job, it is a collective responsibility and I am prepared to listen to you to take your advice, to consult with you, to work with you and together, we succeed and after we succeed, we shall all be partners in that success.

“Mr. Chairman let me also again pay my tribute to the Convention Planning Committee. This is like I said, one of the most innovative electoral processes this party has ever taken since the inception of this party in 1998.

“I believe we have learned quite a lot from the conduct of this exercise. And I also believe that we can continue to improve on what has been achieved in the last few days in Port Harcourt. Let me also use this opportunity to pay tribute to the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, the Government and entire people of Rivers State for hosting this historic event.

“This event has gone without a heat and has been very successful and all these would not have been successful without the commitment of Governor Wike, the government and entire people of Rivers State. We thank you very much indeed, we appreciate you and we look forward to working with you so that our party can be returned to power in the next elections.

“Your Excellencies, we cannot afford to fail Nigerians at this very historic moment because Nigerians are yearning for the return of PDP to power because they have now compared the administration of PDP and that of APC. They know that under PDP, they had years of prosperity of unity, of security and of development.

“And they have seen the gross mismanagement of the government of the APC. Therefore we have a wonderful opportunity to return PDP to power in this country. History has beckoned all of us at this point in time to make sure that the PDP is returned to power. We have enumerated a number of challenges facing this country. What we should now do in the next phase of our electioneering campaign is to proffer solutions to these challenges we have identified conflicting our country and its people.

“I, therefore, implore all participants whether at state elections or Local Government elections or national elections to make sure that we proffer challenges to these challenges we have identified. It is therefore not enough to say that APC has failed in A, B, C, D, and F. But we should as a political party proffer solution to these challenges that we have identified.

“This is what will make us completely different as a party from the clueless government of the APC. By the time we start electioneering campaign, I believe Nigerians will yearn for our return till we do so. Mr Chairman of our great party, Chairman and members of the Convention Planning Committee, on behalf of my fellow aspirants, we want to thank you immensely, for your wonderful achievement and performances.

“As I said, this is the best and most credible electoral process undertaken by this party. My hope is that when we eventually get to power, we should improve on what has been done in the last two days. Let us not get intoxicated by power and begin to roll back this electoral success that has been recorded at this point in time. We should improve on them and I believe since the people who are responsible for this achievement are still members of our party, we can continue to benefit from their experience, from their competence to our party.

“In conclusion, all these would not have been possible without our delegates. You are wonderful people. You are loyal party members, you have displayed maturity, you have displayed orderliness and you have displayed a sense of patriotism. And it is very clear that nobody has tried to influence your choice.

“You had the freedom to choose and you exercised that freedom. I, therefore, commend you and wish you well as you return to your respective destinations. Finally, on a personal note, I wouldn’t have been standing where I am standing today if my former boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo had not made me his Vice President. Under his tutelage, I learned quite a lot. And believe the experience I got there is going to definitely impact on how we eventually govern this country. I wish to pay my personal tribute to him.

“Having said that, we should also not forget our leaders who have at different times ushered in the return of democracy. We want to thank them for their contributions and their sense of patriotism. Mr. Chairman, I am humbled. Mr. Chairman, I pledge to you and to members of this party that you will not find me wanting.

“Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you most sincerely. Come to think of it, this is a culmination of a political career that is almost 40 years. I have participated in 5 primary elections in those years. Some of them successful, some of them not successful. I think I am moved by the outcome of this convention. I cannot thank you enough for giving me this opportunity and I promise you I will not fail you. The members of our great party, God bless you all, God bless our country and in conclusion, I hereby accept your nomination to be the candidate of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party.

“God bless you all. Thank you very much.”

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