Determined to oust President Buhari in the 2019 presidential election, Senate President Bukola Saraki and PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar are leading a host of other chieftains of the opposition party in a meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The special strategy session, which started on Thursday in the Middle East city, is meant to put finishing touches to some of the PDP’s plans aimed at defeating Buhari at the next poll.
According to sources close to the meeting, Atiku is also using the forum to perfect his comprehensive policy document, detailing how he intends to improve Nigeria.
It was learnt that the PDP presidential candidate’s roadmap for Nigeria’s development would be unveiled to Nigerians in the next few weeks.
Investigation by The Punchrevealed that Atiku, who had been in Dubai earlier, was joined by Saraki, Secondus and a host of other PDP chieftains on Wednesday night.
It was also gathered that Atiku’s running mate and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, was also attending the meeting.
The Director-General of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, Gbenga Daniel, who is a former Governor of Ogun State, is also present at the meeting, according to party stalwarts who spoke to The Punch under the condition of anonymity.
A top source in the PDP told The Punch that the meeting was important for the party to fine-tune its strategy ahead of electioneering.
“All of them, including Atiku, Saraki, Obi and Daniel are meeting in Dubai now; the essence is to strategise ahead of the campaign,” the source said.
According to INEC’s timetable and schedule of activities issued by the commission, campaigns for presidential and National Assembly elections will commence on November 18, while campaigns for governorship and state assembly elections will start on December 1.
Confirming the meeting in Dubai, the spokesperson for the Atiku Campaign Organisation, Mr. Segun Sowunmi, said there was a need for Atiku to meet with critical stakeholders ahead of the presidential, governorship and other campaigns scheduled to begin soon.
He said they are determined to “change the present change.”