I’m not desperate for power – Atiku

…As student bodies endorse him

From Fred Itua, Abuja

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, declared that he is not desperate for power, contrary to views held by many.

The former vice president, instead, said he’s running to change things for the better in the country.

Atiku spoke in Abuja when the Council of National Students Presidents of Nigeria( CNSPN), made up of National Association of University Students(NAUS), PostGraduate Students Association of Nigeria(PSAN), National Association of Polytechnic Students(NAPS), and National Association of Colleges of Agriculture Students(NACAS), endorse him as their sole presidential candidate

Represented by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Atiku said: “I’m not desperate for office. I’m running to change things. Under my watch, so many things will change. I’ve made a covenant with the Nigerian people.

“We need to appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for insisting elections must be free and fair. We need to appreciate that move.

“Whatever pains we’re passing through because of the Naira policy, it is not comparable to the pains we will have if we allow fraudsters to take over people. Nigerians should bear the pains as part of the sacrifice we must make to make Nigeria. Nobody will free us if we don’t free ourselves.”

Obaji Uchenna Marshal, national president, National Association of University Students (NAUS) and Chairman, Council of National Stuff Presidents of Nigeria(CNSPN), while speaking, said: “Student population of well over 42.5 million both at home and in the diaspora are with us.

“It is pertinent to note that, more than ever before, students are paying genuine attention to the processes of electing leaders that will see over the affairs of governance of this country for the next four(4) years, hence our unwavering commitment to be part of the process by exercising our constitutional franchise.

“On this note of the foregoing and sequel to the above, the CNSPN has taken her time to follow all the Frontline Candidates closely, gone through their Policy working documents(Manifestos) and after keen scrutiny, the CNSPN have come to the conclusion that the manifesto of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which carries the Atiku/Okowa tickets is the most reliable, realizable, the are only ones that provides answers to the Nigeria’s quests and above all, the most educationally friendly, the working document of the PDP is the only document that goes beyond making political promises to actually providing blue print on how to have these promises achieved.”