An independent campaign organisation called Atikunation whose core mandate is to mobilize grassroot support for the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the president of the federal republic of Nigeria come 2019 general elections has said their principal would have to contest PDP primaries and win by merit as the most qualified candidate to fly the party’s flag.

Hon Fatima Mohammed

Speaking to newsmen in Abuja weekend, the Director General of Atikunation Worldwide Hon Fatima Mohammed said following the group’s passion to see that Nigeria truly changed and coupled with what former vice president Abubakar represents, the group decided to go all the way in ensuring that he does not only come out to contest but win come 2019.

Hon. Fatima said: “Right now Atiku is back in the PDP which has been reformed and I see them giving him the ticket. He would contest on a level playing ground and win.

“In the spirit of deepening democracy, he will contest with every other aspirants and would emerge the flag bearer of his party God willing and will go further to win the 2019 elections by God’s grace.

“Well, the Atiku Abubakar I know is a forthright man, in everything he does. He believes in equity and I know that the PDP will not give him the ticket on a platter of gold. He loves to partake in a contest. I take you back to 2011, a day to the primaries , it was apparent that he had lost that particular primaries because they knew a lot of shady things went on. This was when he was in the PDP.

“At first, he had to go to primaries with the former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and some even went to him and said your Excellency, don’t come to eagle square. They have already rigged you out. You know what he said? He said: ” I must register my presence so that I can deepen democracy” and won my heart with that statement.”

Describing as mere propaganda by Atiku’s traducers the viral news of his ban in the United States of America Fatima said: “We have heard issues of people saying Atiku cannot go to the U.S. But let me take back their memory.

“In 2016, the US ambassador to Nigeria went to pay him a courtesy visit and I said, the America that I know is a nation that is so vast in technology and all of that. If indeed Alahaji Atiku Abubakar had a case in the US, why are they denying him visa? They should quickly just grant him access into the US so that they can prosecute him and in any case, they can ask for an extradition order to extradite him if indeed he is such a wanted criminal like they have labelled him.

“I am wondering why the US envoy would go and greet a man who is wanted by his country. All of these things don’t add up to me. All these things are propaganda. He is a man without the exceptional baggages. I’m not telling you that Atiku Abubakar is a saint, but I can give it to you that if you put him on a measuring scale, I would say that he is 80% to 85% clean.”

She added that, Atikunation is basically about the electorate and those in the grassroots.

“It is in the entire 36 states and right about now about three weeks ago, we started a program tagged: ” The School Storm.” What we do with the school storm is that, we have made note books to palliate and cushion the effect of the burden on parents.

“We made notebooks, water bottles, school bags, we have taken them to schools in the rural areas, and our belief is that once a Child goes back home, a child who goes to school without notebooks, a child who goes to school without water bottles, a Child who goes to school in the morning without a proper school bag, maybe he just put his books in a nylon and comes back home with a school bag, a school bag branded with an Atiku Abubakar , there is no how that child will not convince his mother or father to cast his vote for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. We have gone round all of the rural schools in the entire 36 states.

“We are basically a mobilizations group, we are mobilizing the grassroots because we have come to realize that the highest percentage of the voting populace is the grassroots.”