Atiku said he would continue to struggle with other Nigerians to deepen democracy and the rule of law.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, says he is not going anywhere as speculated by some people following the recent judgement of the Supreme Court.
He said he would continue to struggle with other Nigerians to deepen democracy and the rule of law in the country.
Atiku stated this on Monday at a media briefing in Abuja.
"As for me and my party, this phase of our work is done. However, I am not going away. For as long as I breathe I will continue to struggle, with other Nigerians, to deepen our democracy and rule of law and for the kind of political and economic restructuring the country needs to reach its true potential. That struggle should now be led by the younger generations of Nigeria who have even more stake than my generation," he said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed his appeal against the earlier judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which in September also dismissed his petition and that of the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi.
The PDP candidate came second in the 25 February election, losing to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress. He polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election. Against Mr Tinubu's 8,794,726 votes.
Atiku said at critical points in his political life, he ignored the easy but ignoble path and chose the difficult but dignified path.
"At critical points in my political life, I always ignored the easy but ignoble path and chose the difficult but dignified path, the path of truth, of morality, of democracy and the rule of law.
"I always chose freedom over servitude, whatever the personal discomforts my choice entails. When I joined politics, the critical challenge was easing the military out of power so that civilian democratic governance could be restored in Nigeria. It later became a very defining struggle, and, as one of the leaders of that struggle, I was targeted for elimination," he said.
He recounted how nine policemen guarding his home in Kaduna were killed in an attempt to assassinate him, adding that the incident forced him into exile for nine months.
"In one incident, nine policemen guarding my home in Kaduna were murdered in an attempt to assassinate me. I was also forced into exile for nine (9) months. In addition, my interest in a logistics company that I co-owned was confiscated and given to friends of the military government.
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"As Vice President in the civilian government that succeeded the military, I, again at great personal cost, chose to oppose the extension of the tenure of the government beyond the two four-year terms enshrined in our constitution.
"In response to the official backlash against me, I instituted several cases in the courts, which led to seven landmark decisions that helped to deepen our democracy and rule of law. At the current historic moment, the easier option for me would have been to fold up and retreat after the mandate banditry perpetrated by the APC and INEC," Atiku said.
Six times presidential contestant
Atiku, 76, has run for president six times. He first showed interest in ruling the country in 1993 under the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) but lost the primary election to Late Moshood Abiola.
As running mate to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Atiku was vice president of the country between 1999 and 2007.
He ran on the platform of the defunct Action Congress (AC) in the 2007 main election but lost to late President Umaru Yar'Adua. In 2011, Atiku lost the PDP primary election to former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.
In 2015, the Adamawa-born politician lost the primary to former President Muhammadu Buhari in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and as the PDP candidate in 2019, he lost the main election to Mr Buhari.
