TheCable

Isa Odidi, the co-founder of Intellipharmaceutics Inc, a publicly traded company in North America, says Atiku Abubakar is the best candidate to work with Nigerians in the diaspora.

In a statement on Sunday, Odidi, a director mobilising support for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the diaspora, said with Atiku as president, Nigerians abroad would contribute their quota to nation-building.

“Atiku is the best prepared and capable leader to turn around Nigeria,” the Canada-based professor said.

He added that if Atiku wins the presidential election, “citizens in the diaspora can be encouraged and mobilised to come contribute their quota in skills, resources and governance like it happened during the Obasanjo-Atiku administration”.

Odidi, a presidential candidate in 2007, said it is a good move that the PDP standard bearer is seeking “strategic” partnerships abroad.

“Having officially commenced his campaign in Nigeria, it is a good idea to go shopping for strategic partnerships, since the tasks ahead will be enormous,” he said.

“The visit is timely in the light of terrorist alerts by the US and its allies in Nigeria.

“The carefully selected strong delegation of His Excellency underscores the importance he attaches to foreign partnership – especially the very strategic meeting he had with the State Department on Thursday.”

The professor said if elected, Abubakar should ensure that Nigerians in diaspora would be able to vote in 2027.

“Nigerians in the diaspora should be able to vote at the next round of elections after 2023. It does not look good disenfranchising millions of our compatriots who live and work overseas, to support the economy of their home country,” he said.

“Recall that I had as far back as 2007 as a presidential candidate myself successfully led a legal battle to recognise the rights of Nigerians in the diaspora to vote and be voted for in our elections.”