Atiku Abubakar profile: Di PDP presidential candidate dey woo Nigerians wit reminder of di good times

Atiku Abubakar dey hope say e go be sixth-time lucky for im quest to be Nigeria next president as e don fall short for five attempts bifo, di first for 1992.

Di 75-year-old don circle di summits of public life for most of im career as top civil servant, vice-president, and ogbonge businessman, wey make im fortune for di oil sector and give some of am away to charity.

But di highest office for di land dey avoid am, and for February 2023 e go dey dia again, to offer im credentials as political operator wit experience and serial entrepreneur as di remedy for Nigeria palava.

Africa most populous kontri dey face high unemployment, widespread insecurity, high inflation, and slow economy wey really rely on oil revenue wey no stable.

Oga Abubakar campaign dey built on im success as vice-president between 1999 and 2007, wia as head of di goment economic team e bin oversee successful reforms for di telecommunications, pensions and banking sectors wey bin lead to jobs and GDP growth.

However, im critics dey point to accuse of financial misconducts against am wey dem say no make am suitable for di top office for di kontri wia corruption be serious challenge.

Dem dey accuse am say e dey appoint friends for position, especially wen e bin oversee di privatization of key goment assets. E deny say e do any wrong and say di charges dey politically motivated.

Oga Abubakar go dey hope to unite di wounded opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), wia cracks don dey show since im victory for di primary for June.

Some influential southern govnors no like im emergence, dem say na di turn of di south to produce Nigeria next president afta eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari, wey be northerner like Oga Abubakar.

Im choice of running mate don also cause fight within di party, wit many wey believe say di snub of di highly influential Govnor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, fit prove costly.

One popular figure within di party, Oga Wike dey considered as di one wey dem like, as e oose out for di presidential primary and Oga Abubakar instead choose Delta state Govnor Ifeanyi Okowa.

Outside im party, Oga Abubakar dey face one able opponent for Bola Tinubu, di candidate of di ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and di youth-driven campaign wey di Labour Party Peter Obi lead dey target votes for traditional PDP areas for southern Nigeria.

E also get di challenge of how e go convince young Nigerians say e be suitable choice, sake of im age, and say e be break from di political class wey many pipo don lost confidence for.

One friendly, enterprising figure, Oga Abubakar move skilfully between di worlds of commerce and politics - qualities wey, im supporters say, go help am unite di kontri and revive di economy.

E bin don dey get hand for Nigerian elections for years and don recently fluctuate between di two dominant parties, APC and PDP - wia e be founding member, and dey shoot shot for presidency.

Im first exit from PDP, 2006, bin join wit one investigate into im record as vice-president, wen e bin chop accuse say e divert moni wey reach $125m (£95m) public moni to im business interests.

Similar charges bin show for one 2010 US Senate report, wey bin accuse Oga Abubakar say e transfer $40m (£30.55m) of "suspect funds" to di US, say e use im American wife bank account.

Di charges never ever dey tried for court, and Oga Abubakar don reject di allegations of corruption say e dey politically motivated. For January 2019, e bin visit Washington DC, to end tok tok say e dey avoid to travel to di US sake of e fit face arrest for there.

E dey beg voters wey want revival of di economy and national unity, afta dem see Oga Buhari administer a period of economic stand still and accuse of ethnicity for political appointments.

Oga Abubakar reputation for business dey linked to di spectacular rise of Intels, di oilfield logistics firm wey e co-found for 1982. From im original office for shipping container, di company don grow to one multi-national, multi-billion naira operation, wey dey employ more dan 10,000 pipo.

E don divert part of im wealth to charitable cause, di one wey popular pass be how e establish di prestigious American University for Adamawa state, northern Nigeria. Di university don offer scholarships to some of di "Chibok girls" - survivors of high-profile kidnapp by Islamist Boko Haram militants.

Oga Abubakar dey regard imself as one lucky beneficiary of di Western-style education wey dem dey teach for di university and wey Boko Haram no support at all. Dem born am for Adamawa to one serious Muslim family, and im father, one Fulani tradesman and herder, go jail briefly sake of e no wan allow am attend school.

"My papa dey respond typically wit fear and anxiety to di change for Nigeria," Oga Abubakar bin write sympathetically for im autobiography.

Afta e finish im studies, e bin join di customs service, wey dey serve for Lagos port and airport. "Corruption bin common for Customs but I no dey part of am," e bin write. "I see Customs… as one way to make money for di goment."

While e still be civil servant, Oga Abubakar begin buy property and farmland for commercial purposes, eventually e move to di market for oil and gas services. "I recognise very early for life say I get good nose for business," e write for one chapter of im autobiography wey im title be; Making Money.

Im career for Customs bin give am konnect wit military and political elite, two categories wey don dey interchangeable for plenti of Nigeria recent history. Oga Abubakar bin grow close to di former Army Major, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, wey e dey see as political mentor.

While Nigeria still dey under military rule, di two men don start to network wit oda regional leaders, wit hope to form one ogbonge goment-in-waiting.

For 1989, Oga Abubakar bin quit civil service to dedicate imself to politics. E bin make im first presidential run for 1992, as candidate for di faction wey don gather around Shehu Yar'Adua. E bin step down afta e come third for di first round, and di election self later dey cancelled by di military goment.

Di repression grow for di 1990s under Gen Sani Abacha. Oga Abubakar bin dey briefly on exile for London, while dem send im mentor, Shehu Yar'Adua, to prison, wia e eventually die.

Oga Abubakar bin return to Nigeria for 1997 as Gen Abacha bin relax im grip on power. E become vice-president afta di elections for 1999 install PDP candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, for di presidency.

During two terms for office, e bin oversee plenti privatisations, earning di praise as liberaliser for some quarters, and criticism somewia else as a cronic capitalist.

For im autobiography, e bin take credit say e reform di banking sector, di auction of mobile phone licence, as well as di economic boom wey allow Nigeria to pay off plenti of im debt.

Oga Abubakar, from di north-eastern Adamawa state, say e go bring back di good times if dem elect am president for 2023.

E get four wives and 28 children.