(PDP), former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, said he is heading to the Supreme Court to ensure that the votes of Nigerians count and are counted.

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, said he is heading to the Supreme Court to ensure that the votes of Nigerians count and are counted.

Atiku, who hinted at moves to discourage him from pursuing his case at the court, said with God’s help and the support of Nigerians, the nation would make a course correction away from tyranny and towards democracy.

The former vice president stated this in a statement he personally signed.  This was Atiku’s first reaction since the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal dismissed his petition and upheld the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The statement, which was to thank his supporters, said, “Nothing good comes easy, and hard as the task to rid Nigeria from the forces of fascism, and be an instrument for the full restoration of the rule of law and democracy in Nigeria is, your support makes the struggle worthwhile.

“I owe so much to this great land of Nigeria that took me from the streets of Jada, where I sold firewood, to the heights I have attained, by God’s benevolence, in the civil service, in corporate Nigeria, and in public service.

“If I do not play my part in making it possible for other orphaned children, indigent youths and the less privileged, to replicate and even surpass my path to significance, I would have failed my Maker. If I do not ensure that the ladder I climbed remains accessible to those at the bottom, middle and top tiers of society, I would not have fulfilled my purpose.

“And only by ensuring that democracy is not just done, but seen to be done, can Nigeria and Nigerians have a sense that this our dear land is indeed a land where Unity, Faith, Peace and Progress reside.

“It is for this, and other patriotic reasons, that I am pursuing this judicial route: To ensure that the votes of Nigerians count and are counted.

“We must stand together to pursue this just cause all the way, so that our judiciary are not afraid to do their jobs and have to be wary of blackmail, intimidation, and victimisation.

“Finally, I say to all concerned, that we will all die and give account of our lives to our Creator,” he said.