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By Miftaudeen Raji 

Former lawmaker representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye has ruled out the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi; and New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kwankanso as threat to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Abubakar Atiku. 

The former PDP lawmaker in a statement issued on his Facebook page, said the trio’s political patronage does not come close the national acceptability that Atiku enjoys.

He said, “None of Tinubu, Peter Obi, Kwankwaso and co can ever enjoy national acceptability like Buhari. In other words, APC has no candidate who’s a threat to Atiku. Giving without conceding that Obi will pull majority votes in the South Eastern part of Nigeria whose total votes is less than 3 million votes.”

Melaye expressed confidence that Atiku would garner 25 percent of votes in all states in the 2023 presidential election.

He recalled that the President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC defeated Atiku with less than three million votes in the 2019 presidential election. 

Melaye stated, “Even when almighty Buhari supposedly won the 2019 election, Which is not correct. The difference between his votes and that of Atiku was less than 3 million. Atiku won 17states + FCT, and Buhari won 19 states. Only one state in between. Atiku scored over 11 million votes and had 25% across 2/3 of all the states in Nigeria.

“It’s a known fact that Atiku has the ability to clinch more than 25% votes in all states across Nigeria,” he said.

He further said, “Atiku is not a contestant, he’s an awaiting President. Get your PVC, Get Atikulated so we can get Nigeria fixed and united again.

“Be wise and vote the right fellow countrymen and women. Atiku remains the only symbol of National Unity and hope for Nigeria and Nigerians,” he added.