Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says he has been engaging Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, to discuss the possibility of a merger.
Atiku was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election. Both Obi and Atiku lost the election to Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Friday in an interview with BBC Hausa, Atiku said he would support anyone chosen to represent the PDP in 2027, even if the candidate is from the south-east.
Atiku also said he would not be retiring from politics any time soon. “This is to anybody who thinks there is going to be a misunderstanding between me and Obi, let me assure you that not even a small issue is going to happen between us. Also, we are going to be behind anybody who is chosen to represent us in the forthcoming elections.
“I have made it clear in my previous speeches that if our parties are going to merge to agree on a candidate from the south-east, as long as he is qualified, we will allow it. At this moment, we are meeting and making arrangements to unite the party and take it to a more promising point.
“If there is anybody thinking we would be moving backwards, keeping quiet to the dishonesty and injustice happening to the people of Nigeria, then I think he is daydreaming because I am still very much active in political activities.”
When asked if he would be running in the next election, he said “at this moment, we should all sit back until 2027 to see if I would be contesting or not”.
“We are the people championing the return of democracy and we will continue to ensure democracy is fully improved. We are not going to watch how things deteriorate,” he added.
