Kola Abiola, presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) has expressed confidence that he will win the 2023 presidential election.
Abiola, who is the first child of late Chief MKO Abiola, acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, said this at the launch of the party’s manifesto for 2023 in Abuja on Saturday.
Speaking at the event, Abiola said his party has no immediate plans to form an alliance with any political party for the 2023 general election while expressing optimism that the PRP would win the presidential election by a landslide.
“I can’t see any right away. You have to run the race before you start thinking of an alliance. We have a very strong grassroots network. We have been campaigning at the grassroots. We will soon begin our national campaign.
“We have a wide reach. We are in all the Local Government Areas of the country and we have 711 candidates nationwide. That is what we require to run a successful campaign. We are a national party that will make a big difference in the election,” he said.
Abiola dismissed insinuations that he was riding on his late father’s legacy.
“It is very unfortunate and ignorant of people to say that. I’m a man of my own right,” he said.
Alhaji Falalu Bello, the PRP National Chairman, described Abiola as an intellectually capable candidate.
“Our presidential candidate is physically fit and capable to contest alongside other candidates,” he said.
Bello faulted allegations that the candidates paid for various positions, saying it wasn’t true.
“We in PRP, whoever had the mandate to contest whether presidential or gubernatorial, did not spend a kobo that he gave to the party to be nominated for any position.
“In terms of principle, there is no party better than PRP; we have been tested; we had formed government in Kaduna and Kano states,” Bello said.