Former Vice President Atiku has defended his decision to seek the presidency, saying that his age and previous attempts should not affect his constitutional right to contest.
Atiku said, “We have a president who is 90 years old now and who is sick, and I am healthy. I am strong. So why would I not make my services available to my fellow countrymen?”
When told Tinubu is not yet 90, Atiku replied, “Well, I have evidence, I have evidence that he is. And I will present it in court.”
He said, “I have been on the ballot two times, or three times. Let me give you my political history. I ran for governor four times, because at that position, the people who were in charge of our transition to democracy were military, and I was so anti-military. And any time I won, they would disqualify me; any time I won, they would disqualify me.”
He added, “The last was when there was even an attempt on my life, and I went into exile. So I’ve never found anything easy in my life.”
Atiku said, “Because I’m contesting the presidency two or three times, that’s not anything unusual in my life, in my political life. Why should you question me on my right? It is my constitutional right. I am strong. I am healthy. I am agile. Why do you bother about my constitutional rights?”
Asked why he believes he is the best candidate, he responded, “Because things are not going right. Things are not going right.”
He added, “I have the experience, I have the competence, I have the patriotism. So why would I not make all this available to the service of my country?”
On insecurity, Atiku said, “The defence is undermanned. In other words, we have not enough boots on ground in this country. There are not good equipment.”
Atiku promised that if elected, “within one year they should be able to see that, and believe me, within one year we can control this insurgency and insecurity that is all over the place.”
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