ATIKU ABUBAKAR: I regret not winning Lagos for PDP in 2003

The former VP apologised to members of the PDP in Lagos for his mistake in not taking the state for the party and prayed to be given a second chance to right his wrong.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said on Monday that one of the regrets he had was not delivering Lagos State for the Peoples Democratic Party in 2003 when his then principal, President Olusegun Obasanjo, gave him the authority to deliver all the South-West states for the then ruling PDP.

Atiku said though he delivered all the other South-West states for the PDP, he spared Lagos State because of his long-standing political relationship with then Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Atiku, who is seeking to become the President in 2019, however, said he had since regretted that decision, saying it was part of the reasons that the country had remained in a poor state.

He regretted that all the South-West states that he delivered for the PDP in 2003 had been wrested out of the party’s control.

The former VP apologised to members of the PDP in Lagos for his mistake in not taking the state for the party and prayed to be given a second chance to right his wrong.

The presidential hopeful was in Lagos on Monday to hold a meeting with PDP members in the state in furtherance of his ambition.

He was accompanied by a former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who is the Director-General of the Atiku Campaign Organisation and a former Minister of Niger Delta, Chief Godsday Orubebe.

Atiku said, “When we came to power in 1999, the entire southwestern states were controlled by the AD (Alliance for Democracy). And when we were approaching the 2003 elections, I told my boss, ‘give me the authority to take over the South-West’. And he gave me that authority, and I took over all the states with the exception of Lagos.

“Why? Because Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and I came a long way from the SDP, PDM and all of that; and I felt I should leave Lagos for him. I could easily have taken over Lagos along with the rest. Today, virtually we have lost the South-West again.

“My brothers and sisters, I want you to forgive me for leaving Lagos out of that arrangement. If I have another opportunity, Lagos will work together with the rest of PDP states; I can tell you that because I know what I did to reserve Lagos.

“So, my fellow brothers and sisters, I want to appeal to you to give me that opportunity to return, so that I can correct the mistakes I made.

“That mistake brought us to where we are today. Today, we are the worst economy since the return of democracy in 1999.”