What Atiku must do to become our candidate — PDP BOT Chair

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar 

The Peoples Democratic Party has urged Atiku Abubakar to be ready to play by the rules once he rejoins the party in the coming days.

Mr. Atiku dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress Friday morning. There are strong indications of his imminent arrival at the major opposition party.

Walid Jibrin, the chairman the PDP Board of Trustees, briefly touched on Mr. Atiku’s political future during an interview witn PREMIUM TIMES Sunday night.

Mr. Jibrin, a former senator from Nasarawa State, said the PDP field of presidential contenders has expanded in recent weeks, and Mr. Abubakar should expect a rigorous competition for the party’s ticket.

He said the PDP is expecting him, but first, the former former vice-president “must subject himself to all the constitutional instruments of the party” if he “really wants to be president” by 2019, Mr. Jibrin told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone.

He said most of the presidential hopefuls that have expressed their intention since the party ‘zoned’ its presidential ticket to the north are political heavyweights.

All our candidates are very strong and the former vice-president is going to meet some interesting challengers, Mr. Jibrin added.

Sule Lamido and Ibrahim Shekarau are amongst those who have commenced 2019 consultations in recent weeks on the platform of the PDP.

Mr. Abubakar is expected to join the party at his ward in his home state of Adamawa in the coming days, a source close to the former vice president told PREMIUM TIMES Sunday night.

His registration would be in time for his participation at the party’s national convention scheduled for December 9 in Abuja, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Members are also expected to elect a substantive chairman for the party at the convention. Mr. Jibrin told PREMIUM TIMES he won’t back three of the eight chairmanship candidates who are members of the BOT.

“As leaders of the party, we’re supposed to play down on our personal political ambitions,” the PDP chieftain said.

Tunde Adeniran, Bode George and Uche Secondus are members of the PDP Board of Trustees, which has long been dubbed the conscience of the party.