The Peoples Democratic Party has reacted to the resignation of Atiku Abubakar from the ruling All Progressives Congress, saying he is now a free man. It, however, said it would not offer Atiku an automatic ticket to contest the 2019 presidential election. It said the former member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP had seen the light, which it said, necessitated his leaving the APC. The former ruling party also called on other members of the APC to leave, saying the day the ruling party was formed “remains a dark day in the history of Nigeria.” The spokesperson for the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Friday.
“The PDP is a democratic party. If you come in, you are free to contest elections once you meet our constitutional requirements, but we can’t give our ticket to anybody like that,” Adeyeye said. He said PDP had the capacity to accommodate anybody who wanted to be a member or wanted to return, but said such return must be without any condition. According to him, “The PDP has the capacity to accommodate everybody. Our doors are open to him (Atiku) to come back to his home without any precondition. He is free to come back like every other Nigerian and we want to appeal to those who have not seen the truth and we are praying that they will soon see the truth, so that the truth will set them free. And as soon as they are free, let them come back.”
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