Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa Femi Fani-Kayode has criticised former vice-president Atiku Abubakar over what he described as a 33-year effort to become Nigeria’s president, calling the latest run Atiku’s seventh attempt.
The assertions appear in a piece Fani-Kayode titled “The Seventh Bid of Waziri”, according to a report by Daily Post.
In the article Fani-Kayode wrote, “Waziri Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President of Nigeria, has attempted to become President of our nation no less than six times and his latest attempt is the 7th.” He added, “In a country of 230 million people one man has been trying to be President for 33 years, has failed each time, and is now attempting it again for the 7th time,” the report quoted.
The Daily Post account says Fani-Kayode traced Atiku’s presidential efforts to 1993, when Atiku contested the Social Democratic Party, SDP, presidential primary.
Fani-Kayode also listed subsequent bids he attributed to Atiku: contesting the 2007 election under the Action Congress; taking part in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, primary in 2011; contesting the All Progressives Congress, APC, primary in 2015; and standing as the PDP candidate in 2019 and 2023, the report said.
The article noted that Atiku is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, for the 2027 election, and that a former minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is his running mate, according to Daily Post.
The Daily Post report also identified Femi Fani-Kayode as a former minister of aviation.
All claims in this article are drawn from the Daily Post report and are attributed to Femi Fani-Kayode where they reflect his comments or account of Atiku’s political history.
Featured image: Solosoftnigeria via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
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