Nigerian ex-VP launches sixth presidential bid

Nigerian politician Atiku Abubakar has formally declared his intention to contest next February’s presidential election.

The former vice-president is the first person to make a formal declaration and wants to be the candidate for the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

It will be the 75-year-old’s sixth bid for the presidency.

He told a packed conference hall full of his supporters in the capital, Abuja, that he was a “unifier” for a “new Nigeria”.

During the event, that was streamed live on social media, he also said he would tackle insecurity, revamp the oil-dependent economy and boost education.

Mr Abubakar, who served as vice-president under Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007, is from northern Nigeria.

He is likely to face strong opposition from within his party to make the PDP’s ticket because of an informal agreement to rotate the presidency between the north and south of the country.

Muhammadu Buhari, the incumbent president who heads the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is from the north and is finishing his second and final term.

The APC is also scratching its head over whom to field as Mr Buhari’s successor.

Two southerners – current Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state – are believed to be among APC front-runners.