Nigeria's presidential hopeful Abubakar tries again for the top job

Former Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar is vying once again for the country's top job in Saturday's presidential elections.

This is the sixth time in three decades that Abubakar tries to reach the Nigerian presidency.

The 76-year old is campaigning for the opposition's People's Democratic Party, PDP, and faces Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party and Peter Obi, the surprise third frontrunner from the Labour Party.

Abubakar is a Muslim from the Fulani ethnic group, something he has in common with current president Muhammadu Buhari.

Before turning to politics in the 90s, Abubakar was already a successful businessman.

Abubakar held the deputy executive role under president Olusegun Obasanjo until 2007.

Since stepping down from office, he has tried to secure the presidential nomination for several parties, including the APC in 2015.

He returned to the PDP for the 2019 election and played on his reputation as a businessman with a slogan "Get Nigeria working again".

During campaigning, Abubakar promised to tackle five key areas. These are insecurity, the economy, restoring the unity of Nigeria, investing in education, and devolving more resources and powers to regions of the federation.

Nigeria is still recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout from the Ukraine war that has increased fuel and food prices.

According to the World Bank,inflation pushed five million more Nigerians into poverty in 2022 to a total of around 95 million or nearly half the population.

Abubakar has two wives and 29 children.