It was a fiercely contested presidential primaries, but the Turakin Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar Himself carried the day to loud cheering and a victory lap carried out by supporters.
Although several votes were laughable, such as Datti Abba Ahmed scoring five, things started to get tense when it got to the turn of Senate President Bukola Saraki who scored 317 votes.
He was however quickly overshadowed by the Governor of Sokoto State Aminu Tambuwal who scored 693 votes.
That would also soon pale in comparison with Atiku Abubakar who scored 1, 532 votes to loud cheers and applause from the sea of delegates numbering a little above 3000.
In his acceptance speech, Atiku lauded the other aspirants for the spirit of sportsmanship which he said shows that the party had the interest of the nation at heart and not personal interests.
He appealed to them that while he thanked them for the trust, he could not do it alone as he would need their support to achieve the dream of developing the country.
He also said, this primaries was the best and most innovative so far since the creation of the PDP in 1998. He however said the party could still get better as it evolves some more.
Atiku also lauded Governor Wike and the government of Rivers state for hosting the convention.
He said Nigerians have seen the mismanagement of the APC government and were yearning for the return of the PDP to correct the errors of the ruling party.
Atiku Abubakar also said Nigerians deserved better than a government that only identifies problems without proffering solutions as witnessed with the clueless government of the APC. He said the PDP would be different from the APC by actually providing solutions to problems.
Atiku further implored the PDP to improve on what has been achieved in the last two days while he also said the PDP should not be intoxicated by power when the party wins the presidential election next year (A subtle shade to the APC).
He finally thanked the delegates for their choice, saying it was clear they were never influenced and they voted their conscience.
He also Paid tribute to Obasanjo, saying he would not be where he is today without the opportunity to serve as vice president under Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Mr. Chairman, I Pledge to you and members of this party that you will not find me wanting, “ Atiku said.
He however got a little emotional as he reminisced that his emergence as candidate of the PDP was a culmination of nearly 40 years of his political career. He said he had been in five primary elections, some successful and others not successful.
He concluded that he was moved by the choice of the delegates and his fellow aspirants and he promised not to fail them or let the party down as he accepted his victory and nomination to contest for the Position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 2019 general elections.