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Nigeria 2023: Can Atiku win the north?

By Dammy Matthew
Posted on Tuesday, 24 January 2023 17:26

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) looks on during a party campiagn rally in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria, on January 18, 2023 ahead of February 25 presidential election. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)

For the first time since 2003, President Muhammadu Buhari, the undisputed ‘king of the north’ will not be on the ballot. With his over 12 million vote bank up for grabs, fellow northern Muslim, Atiku Abubakar, is hoping to inherit this base. Will the north show up for him next month?

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is going into the 25 February presidential election with two major problems in Nigeria’s south-south and south-east geopolitical zones; the otherwise stronghold of his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

These two zones, which are predominantly Christian, have historically been PDP zones since the return to democracy in 1999.

READ MORE Nigeria 2023: Allegations of drug trafficking, corruption taint Tinubu, Atiku campaigns

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