Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has called for stakeholders collective efforts, towards victory in the 2023 general election.

Mr Abubakar said this in a remark at the inauguration of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council on Wednesday in Abuja.

He promised to address Nigeria’s numerous challenges, if eventually elected as Nigeria’s president in 2023.

“But all hope is not lost. We have a plan to address these issues and to arrest the drift of our nation. These plans have been laid our in the document titled ‘my covenant with Nigerians’.

“Our plans for Nigeria and Nigerians are as follows: to restore Nigeria’s unity through equity, social justice, mutual collaboration, and consensus among our diverse peoples.

“To build a strong and effective democratic government where the safety and security of our people and their property is our primary and singularly most important responsibility.

“To establish a strong, resilient, inclusive and prosperous economy that generates opportunity, jobs and wealth while lifting the poor out of poverty,” Mr Abubakar said.

He said he plans to encourage the emergence of a true federal system where all federating units are equal.

Mr Abubakar said that he also plans to redevelop, invest in and strengthen Nigeria’s education system.

This, he said, was to provide its recipients with the education and skills needed to compete in the new global order driven by innovation, science, and technology, as well as to live healthy, productive and meaningful lives.

The presidential candidate said that to undertake those tasks, the members of the PDP graciously granted him the ticket to lead the party in the 2023 presidential election, with the singular mandate to come and lead the efforts to cure Nigeria’s ills.

Mr Abubakar said the task of the presidential campaign council was to come together to rescue and rebuild the country.

“But to rescue and rebuild our country, we must first take over the mantle of leadership from the party that drove us into this mess.

“To do this, we must all be united in purpose and come together to fight and win all the elections slated for next year.

“Every single person who loves this country, as I do, is needed for the arduous tasks that face us ahead as a nation, and this includes every member of the PDP.

“And it is my fervent hope and prayer that every man and woman of goodwill will join hands with us to help rescue, rebuild and reposition our beloved country, Nigeria,” he said.

Mr Abubakar said the task ahead may appear daunting; but for the sake of the generations yet unborn all must work together to rescue Nigeria.

“We must not, even for one minute, shirk in the responsibilities that we have been entrusted with to come together to rebuild this beloved country of ours,” Mr Abubakar said.

In his remarks, the PDP Vice-Presidential Candidate and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta challenged presidential candidates of other parties to present their economic blueprints to Nigerians just like the party’s candidate.

“It is not enough to appear on television to say one thing or the other, it is not enough to be on social media.

“They must commit to Nigerians what they want to do, so that they can be judged going into the future and we can ask questions as to how they want to get there,” Mr Okowa said.

He charged the campaign council, PDP members and stakeholders to be committed to the project of ensuring victory for PDP in the 2023 presidential election.

(NAN)