Former Vice President of Nigeria and a presidential aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has promised to restructure Nigeria if given the opportunity to emerge as the president of the country in 2023.

Atiku made the pledge while addressing PDP delegates, including Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, at the Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba, Delta State.

He outlined areas he would focus attention on if elected president to include unity of the country, insecurity, economy and education, stressing that the country was at a cross road and needed an experienced hand to navigate through.

He thanked delegates from Delta State for the support given to him at the Port Harcourt convention in 2019 and appealed to them to vote for him in the PDP presidential convention billed for 28 and 29, this month in Abuja.

He added that the issue of power rotation is enshrined in PDP’s constitution, stating however that what the PDP needed at this time was “to grab the power before entrenching rotation.”

“We want to thank you very much indeed particularly for the support that we received from Delta in the last primaries that took place in Port Harcourt. We cherished that support and we value that support and we shall not forget that support.”

Explaining his agenda to Delta PDP stakeholders, Atiku said: “We have come to another season of elections in the country but this season is unique because Nigeria has never found itself in this type of situation facing numerous challenges.

“That was why when l declared to run for the presidential election this time around, l identified five key areas.

“First of all, l identified the lack of unity in our country today.

Why lack of unity; because we have the government of APC which does not identify with our diversity, which does not respect our diversity and governs as if we all don’t matter.

“And as a result of that, we have a very divided country and l said l will tackle this disunity on the first day of my presidency if elected,” Abubakar said.

The PDP presidential hopeful called on delegates to put competence and credibility above money in casting their votes for aspirants to fly the flag of the party.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said Alhaji Abubakar had the experience to take the country out of the challenges bedevilling the nation, affirming that the issue of restructuring was germane to the people of the Niger Delta region in the choice of who should rule the country in 2023.

Governor Okowa said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was one way to enhance a credible election and charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that transparency was not compromised.

He said delegates from the state will scrutinize the presidential aspirants and throw their weight behind the most credible at the forthcoming party’s primaries.

“We have a lot of insecurity at the moment. Issues concernining education has been identified but very importantly to us in the South South geopolitical zone, is the issue of restructuring.

“Having talked about these key issues, we have noted your speech and we believe that you are a man we can trust because the issues that you have raised are issues that concern us and concern this nation.

“And we beleive that we require a lot of experience to be able to deal with these issues without learning on the ropes.

“So, at the time decisions would be made by Deltans, a lot of these issues would be examined. We would examine all aspirants who will present themselves at the convention on the 28 of this month and Deltans will always vote for the person that has a great capacity.

“But we are convinced that you are and you were in a team that was able to find solutions at the time such things happened in the past. I believe that that will score you very high in our minds at the time that we are taking decisions,” the governor added.

Also speaking, a member of the Atiku Support Organisation (ASO), Senator Dino Melaye described Alhaji Abubakar as a unifier and a servant leader that has cure for all the problems in the country.

The State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Kingsley Esiso, said delegates will support aspirants with proven integrity.

Earlier, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, the Chairman, African Independent Television (AIT), has said Alhaji Abubakar Atiku promised to properly restructure Nigeria, if elected president in 2023.

Dokpesi, who is the Chairman, Technical Committee for the actualisation of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku’s 2023 presidential ambition, said proper restructuring would guarantee enduring peace and development of the country.

Dokpesi stated this on Thursday, in Abakaliki, while addressing members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State while on a consultation visit to the state.

He noted that Nigeria was at a political cross road, stating that proper restructuring was the only panacea to the country’s political, social and economic woes.

He also said the current agitation by youths in the Southeast, under the platform of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other security challenges, would be laid to rest once the country was properly restructured.

“The exclusion of the Southeast in key political appointments and perceived marginalisation of the zone by the present administration had led to protests by youths, under the umbrella of IPOB. “IPOB’s struggle is to ensure that the people of the South-East remain relevant and I, therefore, support the struggle of IPOB. “What IPOB is asking is for the proper restructuring of the country; a proper balancing of the country; my best friends are from the zone and none of them has asked for a separate country.

“There is no part of the country you will go to that you will not find an Igbo man, no where. In the most remote towns and villages in Nigeria, you will find Igbos there.

“There can be no other demonstration of unity that can be found outside this, hence the need to restructure the country to enhance justice and equity,” Dokpesi said.

He noted that the Constitutional Review Conference of 2014 organised by former President Goodluck Jonathan came up with far reaching recommendations that would have addressed the country’s problems.

“The 2014 Constitution review, which I was privileged to be a member, made over 600 recommendations aimed at repositioning the country, but unfortunately, the APC government could not implement the recommendations.

“But, Atiku has promised to continue from where Jonathan stopped to restructure the country and nobody, no presidential aspirant has made such promise,” he added.

He called on the party faithful to support the presidential ambition of the ‘Waziri’ Adamawa to emerge PDP presidential flagbearer in the 2023 election, adding that the former Vice President was the most qualified among all other aspirants.

Chief Tochukwu Okorie, PDP State chairman, commended the team for the visit and assured that the party in the state was open to receive aspirants from across the country willing to consult members of the party in Ebonyi.

He said the party was the only political party that had all it required to rescue Nigeria and reposition its economy.

“The solution that Nigeria needs today is located in PDP and our party parades most of the eminently qualified persons to contest the 2023 presidential race.

“We are in this together. The Nigeria project is Ebonyi project and PDP would work to achieve the best for Nigeria,” Okorie said.