Atiku Abubakar is on the verge of clinching the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, ticket for the 2023 presidential election.
This comes as Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal stepped down for the PDP’s leading aspirant, while asking his supporters to vote for the latter.
Tambuwal made the announcement not long after he had addressed the delegates and appealed to them to vote for him.
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“Those who are delegates here should vote for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,” Tambuwal said.
Earlier today, another aspirant Mohammed Hayatu-Deen had stepped down.
Prior to Hayatu-Deen, a former governor of Anambra state Peter Obi had not only withdrawn from the PDP presidential race but also resigned his membership of the party.
Obi eventually moved to Labour party to continue his presidential aspiration.
The race to be the flag-bearer for the PDP started with 17 candidates. Two were initially screened out, leaving 15. However, one was later cleared, bringing the number to 16. But at 9:pm when the verification and voting exercise commenced, only 13 candidates were still in the race.
The convention is currently holding at the MKO Abiola stadium in Abuja, May 28, and it is expected to spill into May 29.