24th November, 2016
President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as he turns 70 on Nov. 25, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, has said.
Adesina said in a statement in Abuja on Thursday that the president, in a personal letter, said he was delighted to welcome Atiku “to the 70s club.”
He prayed that Allah would grant Atiku “many more years of good health and service to Nigeria”.
“Over the years, I have admired your courage and doggedness in defending your interests and your generosity in promoting education.
“The American University in Yola is one of your noble legacies, and my hope and wish is that it will endure,” Buhari said.
The president said he and Atiku should be grateful to Allah, who has granted them grace to be in the 70s club.
Buhari expressed his “kind personal regards” to Abubakar at 70.
Atiku was vice-president from May 1999 to May 2007 under the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
He has aspired to be elected president since 2007 when he contested election to the office as the candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria.
Atiku returned to PDP and attempted to secure the ticket of the party for the 2011 presidential election, an effort he repeated in 2015 on the platform of All Progressives Congress.