The presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has promised that he will live up to the expectations of the party and Nigerians if he is elected president in 2023.

Atiku made the promise during his remarks at the PDP 97 National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

He thanked NEC members for their support during the party’s convention in May, where he emerged as their candidate.

“I cannot thank you enough. My promise is that I will meet your expectations and the expectations of Nigerians.

“Let me also take this opportunity to thank our outgoing BoT chairman for his services and sense of patriotism for our great party,” Atiku said.

The former vice president also expressed his commitment to resolving the party’s internal crisis.

“Many speakers have alluded to family disagreements, family disagreements are normal even in normal families and also in in-laws.

“But what I can assure you is that we are determined to resolve those issues internally. There are really no fundamental disagreements, it’s normal,” Atiku said.

He called on all party members to ensure challenges were resolved internally within the provisions of the party constitution.

“As a political party, we have our constitution, our rules, and our regulations.

“I want to urge that no matter the level of disagreement, it must be resolved within our constitution, within our rules, within our regulations.

“We have all that is needed to guide us in continuing to nurture this political party, to provide a platform for all Nigerians to realize their collective and individual aspirations.

“Therefore, I wish to call on all members of our party to make sure that all of our disagreements are resolved internally,” he said.

In his remarks, former Senate President and Acting Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Adolphus Wabara, urged party members to always control their emotions and ensure that disagreements within the party are addressed internally.

“The PDP has a built-in problem-solving mechanism. We have done it several times. When people expect us to implode, that’s when we get very glorious.

“I want to advise us that we should always inform ourselves internally, no matter what the anger is; let’s meet internally instead of playing in the gallery.

“We must monitor and control our statements because, in general, only God knows tomorrow.

“Because once you express something, it’s always hard for you to take back what you express.

“My advice to use is that we must be mature enough to control our temper,” Wabara said.

Earlier, the national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, said that he was happy that the PDP is united and that Nigerians were enthusiastic about the party, despite the impression created by some people.

“I am happy that the Nigerian people are interested in our party. I am interested not because we disagree with each other, but in our ability to deliver and when we take power.

“We’ve done it before and I think people are going to give us their mandates as well.”

Mr. Ayu urged the party to focus on the issues that Nigerians care about, including issues of security, education, economy, health, and national infrastructure that will help the country move forward.

For his part, the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state, said the forum was working to address the misunderstanding in the party.

He promised that the PDP governors would continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

Mr. Tambuwal praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and President Muhammadu Buhari for improving the country’s electoral system, urging them to maintain it so that the 2023 general elections are free and credible.

“We must, as people of goodwill, as believers and democracy, encourage President Buhari, indeed INEC, and all security agencies to ensure that we have free, fair, and transparent elections in 2023.

“In any case, that was what the PDP chaired in 2015. So it is only an enhancement to the PDP legacy if that is done by APC management,” Tambuwal said.

Senate Minority Leader Chukwuka Utazi said the party’s caucus in the National Assembly was united and indivisible.

Utazi, who pledged his support for the party in the 2023 general election, urged everyone to work together for the success of the party.