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Tag: atiku

  • Atiku to executive, legislature: Respect your boundaries

    Atiku to executive, legislature: Respect your boundaries

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the executive and legislature arms of government should respect the boundaries of their constitutionally defined powers and responsibilities in order to avoid long-drawn out conflicts, which might impede governance.

    The former vice president stated this in his paper on “Political parties and Legislative Autonomy” at the 2013 Africa Legislative Summit held in Abuja.

    Atiku noted that while the struggle for power between the executive and the legislature is normal, the larger national interest should be allowed to take precedence over their egos.

    According to him, the people of Nigeria would be served better if the different arms of government are guided by national interest rather than egos.

    He noted that even in the United States such conflicts between the executive and legislative branches do exist.

    He, however, advised that “compromises are key to serving the national interest and avoiding a gridlock.”

    He explained that attempts to supplant the power or roles of each other could plant the seeds of conflict and that such temptation should be avoided.

    On the theme of the Summit, which relates to “political parties and legislative autonomy,” Atiku said legislators were elected in their own right and the idea of expecting them to follow the party line was a potential source of conflict.

    He also reiterated his support for a two-party system for the country, which he said, is more suited for Nigeria’s peculiar circumstances.

    Two-party system, he said, “would help to narrow the differences among parties” and remove the traditional fault-lines in our political system.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Atiku condemns police invasion of G-7 governors’ meeting

    Atiku condemns police invasion of G-7 governors’ meeting

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned Sunday’s disruption of the G-7 governors’ meeting in Abuja.

    The G-7 governors are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, who support the now banned Kawu Baraje-led new PDP.

    Atiku spoke in Abuja when the Niger Delta chapter of the Bishop and Eminent Clerics Forum of Nigeria visited him.

    He said the police action was despicable.

    The former vice president, who also spoke on the proposed National Conference, noted that though he was not opposed to it, the conference might clash with the 2015 campaigns.

    Atiku decried the harassment and intimidation of the G-7 governors and members of the new PDP.

    He said: “I am opposed to what the government has done. I have said it before: there is fundamental freedom of association under our constitution and democratic dispensation.”

    “It is totally wrong. I don’t support what the government has done. I don’t support the government using the police to disrupt peaceful meetings.”

    On the proposed national dialogue, Atiku said the Goodluck Jonathan administration lacked the capacity to handle the 2015 campaigns and the conference.

    He said: “I don’t object to it. But my only problem is that it is timed in such a way that the conference is likely to overlap with campaign and I think government can’t handle both events at the same time.”

    Atiku said the visit was part of consultations on how to achieve unity, peace and stability in the country.

    The challenges facing the nation “require everybody’s hand on deck. Government alone cannot do it.”

    When asked their mission, the clerics, led by Prophet Jones Ode Erue, said they were out for consultation and dialogue on how to find solutions to the nation’s challenges.

    Erue said: “It is just dialogue. Peace dialogue. We are doing consultation. We felt that everybody seems to be failing in the Nigerian project and the unity of this project and sustainable peace and coexistence.

    “We are torched by the insecurity and impunity and the way the nation is going. It all started like a joke and it is becoming an excursion into irreversible doom and we the Bishops and Clerics can no longer fold our hands to see our nation go down the drain.

    “So, we felt we should go on to consult stakeholders on how we can bring them to a proper dialogue and achieve sustainable peace and keep the Nigerian project going.”

    On when the group will reach out to the Federal Government, Erue said, “We are reaching out to everybody. If we don’t reach out to the government then it is going to be biased.

    “We are here on the principle of truth and we are prepared to tell anybody you are wrong and that there should be concessions between both parties. We are midwifing peace.”

     

     

  • Atiku condemns police invasion of G-7 governors meeting

    Atiku condemns police invasion of G-7 governors meeting

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday strongly condemned Sunday’s disruption of the G- 7 Governors meeting in Abuja.

    Atiku, who made the condemnation when the Bishop and Eminent Clerics Forum of Nigeria, Niger Delta Chapter, visited him in Abuja, said the action of the police was despicable.

    The former vice president, who also spoke on the proposed National Dialogue, noted that though he was not opposed to it, the conference is likely to clash with the 2015 electioneering campaigns.

    While decrying the continued harassment and intimidation of the G-7 governors and members of the New Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku said: “I am opposed to what the government has done. I have said it before, there is fundamental freedom of association under our constitution and democratic dispensation.

    “It is totally wrong. I don’t support what the government has done. And I don’t support the government using the police to disrupt peaceful meetings, even meetings in homes.”

    On the proposed national dialogue, Atiku said the present administration lacks the capacity to handle the 2015 electioneering campaigns and the conference.

    He said: “I don’t object to it. But my only problem is that it is timed in such a way that the conference is likely to overlap with electioneering campaign and I don’t see this government having the capacity to handle both events at the same time.”

    Atiku said the visit of the clerics was part of consultations on how to achieve unity, peace and stability in the country.

     

  • New PDP: Atiku’s ambition hangs in balance

    New PDP: Atiku’s ambition hangs in balance

    The recent setbacks suffered by the Abubakar Baraje-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has, once again, brought to the fore the dilemma being faced by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to the realisation of his presidential ambition in the foreseeable future, writes Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo

    Former Nigeria’s number two citizen, Atiku Abubakar, has a very crucial decision to take in the next couple of weeks or months. And from all indications, whatever decision the Adamawa State-born politician eventually takes will, no doubt, significantly shape his political future both in the short and long term.

    Though a founding member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, Atiku’s return to the PDP after a brief sojourn in the defunct Action Congress (AC), on which ticket he contested and lost the presidential election in 2007, has been far from smooth sailing.

    The former vice president’s travails in the PDP predated the Jonathan Presidency with certain forces in the party reportedly bent on sidelining him in the scheme of things with a view to frustrating his presidential ambition.

    The deregistration of Atiku from the PDP during the administration of his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; the initial attempts to compel him to register at his ward rather than at the national level upon his return to PDP in 2009 and the de-listing of his name as a delegate to the last mini-convention of the party, in the opinion of many, are clear indications that the ex- vice president has become more of a fringe player in the party.

    PDP crisis and PDM as a fallback option

    The internal schism in PDP, leading to the formation of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) a few months ago by some aggrieved members including Atiku was initially viewed as a buffer zone for the former vice president to prove his political relevance once again.

    However, the recent setbacks suffered by the faction, including the refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise it and a recent Federal High Court ruling, which affirmed the leadership of the mainstream PDP led by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, which has necessitated a reappraisal of its strategies, is seen as a major setback for Atiku’s political aspiration ahead of 2015.

    Following the massive crackdown on members of the faction, which include the targeting of business interests and properties allegedly linked to its promoters, one of the leading figures in the nPDP, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, had some days ago disclosed that the group is weighing four options on its next move.

    These are to join the major opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC); form a new political party; move enmasse into an unknown political party or remain in PDP.

    In the last few weeks, The Nation gathered that there has been flurry of meetings among the leaders of the nPDP to deliberate on the pros and cons of these four options.

    Just some days ago, Kwankwaso visited his Jigawa State counterpart, Sule Lamido, in what sources described as a follow-up meeting to the parley held between Atiku Abubakar and Lamido at the former’s residence in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

    Sources privy to the meetings revealed that the former vice President has unsuccessfully failed to convince the seven governors in the nPDP on the propriety of joining the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), with majority of the governors allegedly preferring to join APC for the singular reason that the party is well established with structures in almost all the 36 states in the country.

    Though he has stridently denied that he is the unseen face behind the registration of the PDM by INEC, sources disclosed the new party, with most of Atiku’s political associates as its leaders, may just be the final fall-back option for the ex-vice president in his quest for the nation’s number one seat.

    Huddles over PDM option

    For the seven ‘rebel’ governors, who have been up in arms against the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP, the likelihood of joining PDM, according to sources, has been foreclosed.

    Their reason for foreclosing PDM, some of them were said to have argued, is its lack of structures, as the party cannot boast of a single elected official both in the executive and the legislative arms of government. Sources further disclosed that against the backdrop of the governors thoughts about the PDM, the group may have also ruled out forming a new political party, as according to them, the time is rather too short to put the party on a sound footing before the 2015 general elections.

    Will PDM fuse into APC?

    The Nation reliably gathered that opinion is presently sharply divided among PDM leaders on whether or not to join the APC, even as majority of its members are allegedly backing this proposal.

    Proponents of this idea, according to sources, strongly believe that with the alliance between the nPDP, PDM and the APC, the PDP will be given a run for its money in the next general elections.

    But while APC leaders have been publicly wooing the G7 governors and their supporters to join the party, the same gesture, it was learnt, may not have been extended to PDM leaders, at least publicly.

    The former Vice President’s sudden return to PDP is being cited by many observers as another source of worry over Atiku’s real position. Atiku, it was gathered, is said to be aware that barring any unforeseen circumstances, his dream to make a third attempt at the Presidency may have gone up in smokes. Giving a perspective on Atiku’s dilemma, a source noted, “Regardless of the final decision by the G7 governors, who are the major promoters of the nPDP, the former vice president’s chances of contesting for the Presidency in 2015 is slim.”

    The source further raised these posers: “Assuming the G7 governors decide to form a new party, will they offer the presidential ticket to Atiku? And even if PDM and the G7 governors eventually join APC, does Atiku stand any chance in the battle for the party’s ticket? And finally, if Atiku decides to take his destiny in his hands by joining PDM, does the party have what it takes to make any appreciable showing in the 2015 elections?

    For the once powerful number two citizen, there is definitely no easy choice to make in his desire to rule his fatherland.

  • Atiku, Aliyu, Nyako plot North’s strategy for 2015

    Atiku, Aliyu, Nyako plot North’s strategy for 2015

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar  and Governors Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State and Babangida Aliyu of Niger State were last Friday locked  in a night-long meeting  to strategise on the political fortune of the North ahead of the 2015 elections.

    The meeting held at the Yola residence of Atiku, came a few hours after a Federal High Court in Abuja restrained the Kawu Baraje-led faction of the PDP from parading itself as the leadership of the party.

    The three politicians are key members of the Baraje’s faction, which is fiercely opposed to a fresh ticket for President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

    The meeting was said to have harped on the need to mobilise the North for the struggle ahead.

    Aliyu appeared to have given vent to this decision yesterday in Yola when he said it is imperative for the North to reclaim its leadership position in the country.

    The governor, who doubles as Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum, spoke at the turbanning of Mr. Daniel Bwala as the Talban Adamawa by the Lamido Adamawa, Alhaji Barkindo Mustapha.

    The North, he said, should rally behind the former vice president in the struggle.

    His words: “I want to articulate my earlier appeal in Sokoto where I urged you, former Vice President, to help us unify and unite northern brethren to ensure that we have one northern entity devoid of primordial sentiments and differences.”

    He also spoke on the proposed national conference and the crisis in PDP.

    Aliyu said the North is all for the conference and will use it to address issues affecting its people.

    He expressed optimism that the talks will make Nigeria a better country for everyone.

    But he stressed that for the North to benefit from the conference, it will have to send its best eleven, because as he said, there is much at stake.

    He asked the 19 states in the North to select only those who understand the issues at stake and are able to get the best for their people.

    “The North is not afraid of the conference being planned by the Federal Government. We should have nothing to fear because I believe strongly that Nigeria will come out of it a better country that it is today.”

    Aliyu added: “We should therefore embrace the National Conference and send in our first eleven team and avoid dealing with charlatans and people who cannot discuss the issues at stake and bring about the required peace and unity of this country.”

    On the PDP crisis, Aliyu said the group of seven governors is only interested in entrenching true democratic values in the party and ensuring unity and peace in the country.

    He said the PDP crisis was caused by the undemocratic attitude of leaders who placed their personal interests above the collective interest of the nation.

    According to him: “Many people did not understand what transpired when seven of us said we want true democracy to prevail in the ruling party.

    “Whatever happens in PDP will surely affect Nigeria because it is the ruling party and following the drift in the party, we, the concerned members, felt that we must make sacrifices in order to restore equity, justice and fair play in the polity.”

  • Sallah: PDP factions, Atiku, urge sacrifice, accountability

    Sallah: PDP factions, Atiku, urge sacrifice, accountability

    The Bamanga Tukur led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Nigerians to take advantage of this year’s Eid El Kabir festival to ensure total reconciliation and rededication to the ideals of sacrifice, patriotism and total submission to the will of God.

    Similarly, the Abubakar Baraje led faction also urged Nigerians to pause and reflect on the significance of the festive period, which highlights the need for sacrifice and the benefits thereof.

    In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of Tukur’s PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, on Monday, the party urged Nigerians to always be guided by the lessons of the Eid El Kabir which emphaises selfless service, obedience to constituted authority and love for one another.

    Metuh said: “The lessons of this great celebration are of critical importance to our dear country at this moment in our political evolution. Nigeria will be a greater country if all citizens imbibe the culture of sacrifice, selfless service and support to constituted authority especially the current transformational efforts of the Federal Government.”

    He called on Nigerians to remain their brothers’ keepers and remember the less privileged as they celebrate the feast of sacrifice. He urged Muslim clerics and faithful to pray for the peace and unity of the country.

    In a statement issued by the spokesman of the Baraje faction, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, the party called on those in political authority to imbibe the culture of sacrifice.

    The party called for divine intervention in the affairs of the country, “which explains why our party chieftains led by our National Chairman, Alhaji Baraje went to the Holy land for this year’s pilgrimage, for the opportunity to pray for our troubled country.

    “We are confident that with prayers and the needed sacrifices, Allah will show us mercy and intervene to solve our current economic and political challenges”, Eze stated.

    On his part, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar observed that accountability and a sense of inter-personal love are two important values that Nigerians must continue to uphold.

    In a statement by his media office, Atiku said only accountability could ensure the freeing of government resources for development to end joblessness, insecurity and pervasive economic hardship being faced by Nigerians.

     

  • I may attend national dialogue if invited – Atiku

    Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, said he has no objection to the proposed national dialogue and will “consider’’ attending if invited.

    Abubakar disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja on the sidelines of a reception organised by the Spanish Embassy in Nigeria to mark the country’s national day.

    The former vice-president, who was among the dignitaries that attended the event held at the residence of Mr. Alvaro Aguilar, the Spanish ambassador, however, expressed concern at the timing of the conference.

    “My worry is about the timing of the national dialogue, it’s too close to electioneering and I’m wondering whether we have the capacity to manage very sensitive issues.

    “Electioneering in Nigeria can be a very sensitive and controversial issue and in addition to that you now have a national dialogue, otherwise I do not have any serious objection to it,’’ he said.

    Abubakar suggested that the dialogue should consider the restructuring of the country, devolution of powers and increase revenue allocation to the state and local governments.

    “I will like to see more powers to the components of the country.

    “I will like to see the power at the centre considerably reduced as well as the responsibility and money allocated to the centre,’’ he said.

    On the issue of the tenure for the president and governors, the former vice-president argued that the current two- term, provided for in the constitution, be maintained.

    He congratulated the government and people of Spain on the occasion of their National day.

    “I look forward to a more strengthened relationship between Spain and Nigeria and I believe that our relationship has been very good.

    “I will like to see more Spanish investment even though the country is going through very difficult economic times, we hope for more increased investment.”

    Earlier, Aguilar described Nigeria as a “strategic partner with Spain.”

    He recalled that, “in 2012, 16 per cent of the gas and 14 per cent of petroleum consumed in Spain came from Nigeria, adding that the financial exchange between the two countries rose to more than seven billion euros.

    He also described the interest of Spanish business community into Nigeria as “growing’’ and noted that the volume of investments and exports from Spain recorded an impressive increase of 25 per cent in 2012.

     

  • Atiku flays threats of arrest

    Atiku flays threats of arrest

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government’s silence on the rumours and threats of certain members of the new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) being picked and detained for no identifiable crime against the country or anybody.

    In a statement by his media office in Abuja, the former Vice President said the PDP crisis is an internal family disagreement, which should not give anybody the right to arrest those who express dissenting voice.

    According to him, “criminalising legitimate dissent over internal disagreements could lead Nigeria into a police state and thereby, defeat all the basic features of the democratic system”.

    Atiku noted with concern why anyone should lose his freedom for expressing contrary opinion.

    He said the utterances of certain politicians and members of the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP were not good for the democratic image of the country.

    The former Vice President said democracy and the rule of law frown at the idea of taking the liberty to threaten, harass or arrest those who express dissent with the PDP or any other party leadership.

    “If disagreement is a criminal offence, then more than 90 percent of Nigerians should be arrested and taken to jail.

    “Would they also be jailing the 38 percent of our youth population who are unemployed and the thousands of those students who are begging that the ASUU strike be immediately resolved so that they can resume their studies?

    “Majority of Nigerians don’t agree with the way the country is being run, but that doesn’t give anybody the power to curtail their freedom to hold that opinion”, the statement added.

    Atiku cited the examples of other democracies such as the UK and the US where fellow party members disagree with their prime minister or the president and nobody threatens them with arrest for expressing dissent.

     

  • Atiku and the new PDP

    SIR: I admire former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a man who is free from delusion, who understands things as they are and as a man who has good thoughts whenever he speaks. That is the reason why I hold the view that there is no other Nigerian better-positioned to understand and lead this faction of PDP, (nPDP) .

    The purported largest party in Africa is unlikely to achieve in the six decades it plans to ride the Nigerian horse without opposition, which is what it has been unable to do over the last decade of steering the country’s ship of state. The seven PDP governors led by Atiku are a potent opposition which is operating from inside the ‘purported largest party’ PDP itself. What a fantastic good fortune for Nigeria.

    It is unlikely that the All Progressives Congress, APC will give the old PDP the contest of a lifetime in 2015; but now, with the nPDP, it is virtually assured that 2015 will be a fight to remember; that is if all of us are not consumed by the actors and Nigeria does survive it.

    We are aware of doomsayers who predict that 2015 is the end of all contests. Especially, since criminals have taken centre stage, mouthing threats against the corporate existence of Nigeria, which curiously, President Jonathan has neither condemned nor dissociated himself from those behind it. Nigeria had in the past weathered fiercer storms and so, we shall wither this political storm too.

    But, there are definitely good omens too that have sprouted for Nigeria since the new faction of the PDP declared their opposition to the so called largest party in Africa. Actions like these are capable igniting the rare questions of purposeful leadership and development that come with occupying the highest political office in the land including those at the state and local government levels.

    A careful look will tell us that the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s leading of the G7 of the nPDP is borne out of his desire to protect Nigeria’s democracy and his belief in total adherence to the rule of law rather than his ambition to be President. Atiku it was, who paid a costly price for his desire to legitimately succeed Obasanjo at the end of 2007.

    The country’s (Nigeria) return to democratic rule did not itself come on a platter of gold. Atiku was among those who fought the ruthless military regimes into submission not minding the severe consequences that went with it.

    Nigeria needs dedicated, focused, well-meaning leadership devoid of all sentiments be they regional, religious and ethnic in a bid to take us out of delusion to actualize our dream of being among the most prosperous nations in the world.

    The lack of direction and purpose exhibited by the occupiers of the Villa is a source of worry and concern for most Nigerians. The incredible determination and foresight displayed by the nPDP is a remarkable and a positive new twist in Nigeria’s politics, which has finally delivered the breath of fresh air President Jonathan, has failed to find in the wide expanse of our blessed land.

    It is now the hope of many that at least the larger PDP will reform, even if it is against its will to do so.

    This is good for Nigeria.

     

    • Lami Ladan

    Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja

  • Atiku deplores police harassment of Amaechi

    Atiku deplores police harassment of Amaechi

    Former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar has deplored the incessant police harassment of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.

    He said the situation had become incomprehensible, outrageous and humiliating.

    In a statement by his media office yesterday, Atiku said he was embarrassed by the excesses and open partisanship against a democratically- elected governor, who is also the chief security officer of the state.

    He urged the police in Rivers State to halt their siege to the new PDP headquarters in Abuja, which has entered its second week.

    “Nothing justifies the advocacy for the decentralisation of the police by allowing states to set up their own more than this.

    “There is nowhere in the world the police would take sides in private political conflicts at the expense of its constitutional role”, the statement added.

    The former Vice- President regretted that the persistent harassment of the governor had gone too far to be tolerated by decent public opinion and other leaders.

    The glaring partisanship of the police, Atiku argued, would continue to elicit agitation for state police by Nigerians.

    “Police partisanship must stop immediately because it poses a threat to our nascent democracy. Our police force must concentrate on providing safety and security for Nigerians, who face daily threats of violence and kidnappings.

    “Nigeria continues to head in the wrong direction. We face chronic joblessness and now a crippling, three-month long ASUU strike preventing students from attending school. This is where the Federal Government’s focus must be, not on launching partisan police actions”, Atiku said.

    The former Vice- President also noted that considering the heavy expenditure state governments make to equip and support the police, the harassment of Amaechi could undermine such cooperation.

    Each state in the federation has been contributing from source, one per cent of its allocation towards funding the police.