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Tag: atiku

  • Breaking: Atiku announces return to PDP

    Breaking: Atiku announces return to PDP

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has formally announced his return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying issues that led to his exit from the party four years ago have been resolved.

    Atiku who made the  announcement on Sunday in a Facebook live broadcast said the decision to return to the PDP followed consultations party leaders and stakeholders from across the country.

    While responding to questions from a few people on Facebook, Atiku  said he was committed to creation, pointing out that he was particularly disappointed with the APC for failing in his promise to create jobs for the Nigeria. People.

    His Facebook post reads: “Hello, my name is Atiku Abubakar. I am speaking to you today on Facebook Live as I want to reach as many of our young people as possible as I have an important announcement to make about the future of Nigeria.

    “As it is you, our youths, who represent the future of our nation. I have found in my travels across the country that whenever I get into conversationswith young people their number one concern is whether they will be able to get a job for without a job they have no means of sustaining themselves or begin a family. 

    “And without the security of a job we cannot have security in our country. So without jobs there is no future for you or for Nigeria. And I also know as a parent that the older generation is also concerned about jobs for their children and, too often today, for themselves as well.

    “Creating jobs is something I know about as I have created over 50,000 direct jobs and 250,000 indirectjobs in my own State of Adamawa. And I also know how the Government can help create the right environment for businesses to create jobs. When I was Vice President in 1999 I was responsible for liberalising the telecomms sector which enabled us to increase the number of people who could access a phone from less than 1 million then to over 100 million today.

    “This transformation resulted in the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs from the top-up card vendors you see on every street corner to the many new businesses that fed off the mobile phone revolution. Some of you may know that I was elected Vice President under the banner of the PDP, which is the political party I had helped to found some ten years before. 

    “And some of you may also know that I left the PDP four years ago when I believed it was no longer aligned to the principles of equity, democracy and social justice upon which we had founded it.

    “I joined the APC as I had hoped it would be the new force that would help improve life for our people and I was excited about the party’s manifesto to create 3 million new jobs a year. The result has not been the change people had been promised or voted for, as in the last two years almost 3 million Nigerians have lost their jobs.

    “And today with a record 25% of people aged 18-25 unemployed I can see how difficult it is for our youths to find a job. The key to creating jobs is a strong economy and that is what we are currently lacking.

    “So today I want to let you know that I am returning home to the PDP as the issues that led me to leave it have now been resolved and it is clear that the APC has let the Nigerian people, and especially our young people, down.

    “But rather than giving a long political speech on this matter I thought it would be more helpful to invite you to ask me questions and share with you my answers. You can post your questions on my Facebook page: facebook.com.atiku.org“

    Responding to question, he said 

     Question from Jide: Sir, how can you know what young people want when you are not a youth?

    Atiku: I meet young people every day. I have children and grandchildren and most of my employees are youths. The key to knowing what young people want is to listen to them. I’m good at that. Sometimes when I am on the phone with my kids they ask me are you still there, because I just listen to them without interrupting. Young people are on social media and so I go there. They tell me that their number one challenge is jobs. Terrorism, militancy, kidnapping, and other forms of exuberance they may lead to criminality are a symptom of the disease of joblessness. Once you can get Nigeria working again and get Nigerians working again, youth restiveness will ease and gradually disappear.

    Question from Babangida: You have so many businesses and you employ thousands of Nigerians. Would you be able to focus on political leadership when you have such a large business empire?

    Atiku: Well Babangida, you see, leadership must be separated from management. I lead my businesses. I do not manage them. I have qualified managers managing them including some in their early 20s. As a leader, you provide direction and then you bring in skilled people and inspire them to implement your roadmap to getting to the destination of your direction. So in answer to your question, I am more into leadership and this gives me the clarity I need to take in the larger picture.

    Question is from Ikechi: The minister of information recently said the PDP will never regain power. Why go back to a party that will never regain power?

    Atiku: Nobody knows the future other than God and to dictate what the future will be is not within man’s purview. But it is about Nigeria not about power. Power for powers own sake breeds arrogance and arrogance makes men say things like that. All I am saying is that we need a party that speaks to national sentiments not regional ones. We need a party that can make all Nigerians one till we can boldly say that we are all brothers and sisters with only one mother Nigeria.

     Question from Favour: Sir what are your views on the #EndSARS movement?

     

    Atiku: We cannot be outraged that Nigerians and other African migrants are being mistreated in Libya and then we go ahead and mistreat our people back home. I am very abreast with the #EndSARS issue because my young followers on Social Media keep me very much in the loop. Whether it is how SARS treats Nigerians or how we treat each other, we are sending a message to the outside world. We can’t expect foreigners to treat our people better than we treat them. We must set the minimum standard required for the treatment of Nigerians worldwide by the way we treat our people domestically. Our charity must begin at home. On this issue, I call on the Inspector General of Police as a concerned Nigerian to intervene, and I know that the Nigerian Police as a disciplined and well organized force will take action to address this issue. It will go a long way to improving Nigeria’s rating in the global ranking of Police Forces next year because this year, they were wrongfully ranked as the worst.

     

    Thank you to everyone who asked me a question and I am sorry that time does not permit me to answer each one.  I will be travelling across the country in the coming months and will be listening to the concerns of our people in every region. I came from a humble background and thank God for the opportunities that Nigeria has given me to build a network of successful businesses. I am dedicated to a Nigeria where everyone lives in a country of opportunity where there are no limits to what they can become. Good afternoon and thank you for listening.”

  • I’m not perturbed by Atiku’s resignation from APC – Lalong

    I’m not perturbed by Atiku’s resignation from APC – Lalong

    Plateau governor Simon Lalong, a close associate of former vice president Atiku Abubakar, says he is not perturbed by the later’s resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Atiku, last week, resigned from the APC, a party he joined others to build into a strong political force that wrestled power from the PDP in 2015.

    The former vice president and Lalong had been very close friends in the PDP before moving to the APC, making pundits to list Lalong among governors Atiku had boasted would soon join him in his new political fold.

    But Lalong told newsmen on Sunday in Jos that he would not leave the APC.

    “We reached out to Atiku while building the APC structure in Plateau and received some help from him, but my loyalty is with the APC. My loyalty is with President Buhari and my people have endorsed him for a second term.

    “Whatever happens in another party does not concern me. We are only waiting for the APC National Convention to endorse Buhari for a second tenure,” he said.

    He, however, stated that it was the constitutional right of every Nigerian to decide which political group to associate with. (NAN)

  • Buhari to Atiku: Leave me out of your trouble with US

    Buhari to Atiku: Leave me out of your trouble with US

    •Declares: ‘I have never been barred from entering America’
    •Ex-VP on why he can’t enter USA
    •Vows to beat President in 2019

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday told  ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar to go and deal with whatever issues he has with the United States of America (USA) instead of looking  for a straw to clutch at.

    He dismissed as a fiction, claim by Atiku that he ( Buhari ) was barred from entering the USA for 15 years on account of his religious views.

    Atiku had admitted in an interview with  The Boss newspaper published yesterday that  he has been unable to visit  the United States of America (USA) in the last few years owing to what he  termed  administrative denials.

    He said it was wrong therefore to suggest that he was avoiding a trip to America or afraid of an arrest warrant against him in the US.

    He then cited President Buhari, who according to him, was also   denied entry into the US for 15 years on account of strong reservations by the White House about his religious views.

    The President did not take kindly to the statement.

    His Special Adviser of Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina branded the Atiku allegation as “a fictive concoction being passed off as truth.”

    He said: “”This fictive concoction being passed off as truth is mind boggling, coming from a former Number Two man of Nigeria, who should know the truth.

    “At no time was President Buhari, as a private person, ever forbidden from entering any country in the world.

    “Rather, the rest of the world has always held Muhammadu Buhari as a man of sterling qualities, strong on integrity, transparency and accountability. The same testimony is still borne of the Nigerian President by many world leaders today.

    “It is curious that former VP Abubakar had been asked why he had not visited America for over a decade, something that had been a stubborn fact dogging his footsteps.

    “Instead of answering directly, he begged the question, saying Buhari also had been disallowed from entering the same country for 15 years, before becoming President.

    “We hereby make it resoundingly clear that what the former Vice President said only exists in the realm of his imagination. If he has issues to settle with American authorities, he should do so, rather than clutch at a straw.”

    Atiku, explaining his own situation said: “I applied but wasn’t issued a visa. However, they did not decline me categorically either.

    “They’ve only said my application is going through administrative process. It is the sole prerogative of America to determine who they want in their country or not. I’m not running away from America.”

    Speculations about Atiku’s run in with the U.S. authorities stemmed from a broadband contract awarded to iGate, an America company which Williams Jefferson, then U.S. federal lawmaker from Louisiana, had interest in.

    Jefferson was jailed in the US for  his involvement in the deal in which cash was said to have changed hands.

    The former Congressman revealed in a secretly recorded conversation with the FBI that Atiku stood to benefit up to $500,000 for helping influence the broadband deal in Nigeria at the time.

    Jefferson subsequently lost his seat in the Congress but Atiku was never prosecuted in Nigeria and there is no record that he was indicted in the U.S over the case.

    Responding to the perception he is a corrupt politician, Atiku said: “I have challenged anyone, anywhere, who has any evidence of corruption against me to come forward.

    “I’m sure they would have combed everywhere trying to find anything incriminating against me but they have not found it.”

    On his presidential ambition in 2019, Atiku who recently resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) boasted that he would easily defeat President Muhammadu Buhari should he contest against him in 2019.

    “I will beat him this time. He has wasted a lot of his massive goodwill.

    “A lot of people are disgruntled but keeping quiet and lying low. Our youths are suffering terribly and now they are being sold into slavery.”

     

     

  • Atiku’s claim on Buhari fictitious – Presidency

    Atiku’s claim on Buhari fictitious – Presidency

    The Presidency on Saturday described as “fictitious concoction” a claim credited to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that President Muhammadu Buhari was banned from entering United States over religious considerations.

    The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said in a statement on Saturday it was mind-boggling that a person of Atiku’s calibre who should know the truth was spreading lies about the President.

    He said the claim made by the former vice president only existed in the realm of his imagination, as President Buhari was never stopped from entering America.

    The statement reads: “Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, claims in an interview published Saturday that ‘for about 15 years, Buhari could not enter America on account of religious considerations.’

    “This fictive concoction being passed off as truth is mind-boggling, coming from a former Number Two Man of Nigeria, who should know the truth.

    “At no time was President Buhari, as a private person, ever forbidden from entering any country in the world.

    “Rather, the rest of the world has always held Muhammadu Buhari as a man of sterling qualities, strong on integrity, transparency and accountability.

    “The same testimony is still borne of the Nigerian President by many world leaders today.

    “It is curious that former VP Abubakar had been asked why he had not visited America for over a decade, something that had been a stubborn fact dogging his footsteps. Instead of answering directly, he begged the question, saying Buhari also had been disallowed from entering the same country for 15 years before becoming President.

    “We hereby make it resoundingly clear that what the former vice president said only exists in the realm of his imagination.

    “If he has issues to settle with American authorities, he should do so, rather than clutch at a straw.”

     

     

  • How I started my business investment in 1971 — Atiku

    How I started my business investment in 1971 — Atiku

    Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has revealed how he made his first business decision as far back as 1971.

    The former Vice President made the revelation after receiving the Honourary Achiever Award at the Africa’s Youth Entrepreneurs Conference and Award titled “A Stand WithThe Giants” at InterContinental Hotel in Lagos on Thursday night.

    Atiku dedicated his award as Honourary African Outstanding Entrepreneur to Nigerian youths, and urged them to have more drive towards entrepreneurship.

    He said: “I came to Lagos on June 29, 1969 and after my two years training (with the Nigeria Customs Service); I was posted to the border station of Idi-Iroko. At that time, the Badagry Road had not been constructed and the only means of transportation to the rest of the West African corridor was through the Idi-Iroko border to what used to be called Dahomey and what is now known as Benin Republic.

    “On getting to Idi-Iroko, my first posting, I was not married and what I discovered was that the most promising business was transportation. Many pickup vans were transporting women traders from Ajase (Port Novo) to Lagos every morning, and every evening from Lagos back to Port Novo.

    “So I asked myself, how I can seize the opportunity of this moving business. I came over to Lagos, and in those days, SCOA were the sole distributors of Peugeot, so I went to SCOA and I signed a hire-purchase agreement and bought four of those pickups and gave them to four different drivers and every day, they would bring their returns to me and at the end of the month, I would go to SCOA and pay them.

    “I wasn’t married, so my salaries were intact, and in addition, I was saving from what I was getting from my transport business. Therefore, to be an entrepreneur, you must have the ingenuity to be an entrepreneur.”

    Atiku noted that the country’s education system in the early 1960s provided the Nigerian youths the opportunities to make diverse carrier choices.

  • Atiku, Koro on the move again? Life’s truly a bicycle

    Atiku, Koro on the move again? Life’s truly a bicycle

    Politics is truly a thrilling game, notwithstanding the deadly dynamics in the business.

    Of course, the players make whatever differences there are to be found in the game. Messi, the left-footed Barcelona scoring machine cuts an image that’s different from that of a one-time England soccer great, David Beckham, the one that earned the sobriquet “no one can bend it like Beckham”. Yet, Ronaldo, the Portuguese who currently makes Spain home, is uniquely in a class of his own. In the business of football today, no one has his pace and his space in the game. Like Messi, they cut through defences like knife going through butter and unlike Messi, Ronaldo packs bullets in both legs that rip through nets even from incredible distance.

    In politics, you have players with similar abilities and that’s where Atiku and Musiliu Obani koro come in. One is predictable, the other, not quite. If mountains of money are solely the yardsticks with which to achieve political success, perhaps late MKO Abiola could have outclassed Atiku but I doubt if Koro is not better when it comes to mercurial moves that confound many.

    He became chairman of the juiciest local government in Lagos against the run of play, as it were, in the years gone by, making mincemeats of better-favoured Jide Damazio. From then, he had never looked back, going from being a state commissioner to being a failed gubernatorial aspirant to being a highly visible envoy and then a minister of the federal republic.

    The way he parted ways with his political mentor, Aswiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is as surprising as his come-back to his mentor’s political fold and that again makes him inching to becoming an enigma in politics. The months and years ahead will show whether his political ‘nunc dumittis’ is about to be sung or it is still morning yet for him in the political firmament.

  • Jonathan, Atiku, others congratulate Wizkid on MOBO win

    Jonathan, Atiku, others congratulate Wizkid on MOBO win

    •As Davido wins Best African Act

    The duo of Wizkid and Davido have done Nigeria proud at the just concluded 22nd Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Award which held on Wednesday night at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, United Kingdom.

    Beating other music greats like Jay-Z, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Traavis Scott, Wizkid carted home the ‘Best International Act’ award while Earlier, Davido, whose ‘IF,’ ‘Fall,’ and ‘FIA’ have trended the airwaves was announced as MOBO’s’Best African Act’ to the delight of Nigerians.

    “When Nigeria does well, I cannot help but feel well,”  former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan wrote, expressing his congratulations.

    “My happiness is tied to the happiness of Nigeria and when Nigerians break records and take the name of Nigeria to greater heights it exhilarates me.

    “Thank you Wizkid for raising Nigeria’s flag high for the positive, not the negative. Your emergence as the Best International Act at the #MOBOAwards is a proud moment for Nigeria. And the fact that you emerged over JAY-Z and Drake makes it even more celebratory. WELL DONE. GEJ”

    Former vice president Atiku Abubakar also felicitated with Wizkid via social media.

    “My young friend, WizKid @wizkidayo beat other big international artists to win one of the world’s biggest music awards,” tweeted Atiku.

    “Congratulations.”

    Expressing his own delight showbiz enterpreneur and politicia Senator Ben Bruce, described Wizkid’s feat as one of his ‘proudest’ moments.

    He tweeted: ‘Dear @wizkidayo, I’ve been in the entertainment business as an investor since 1980 and one of my proudest moments for Nigerian music is the day you defeated both Jayz and @Drake, two of the biggest stars in the world, to win the Best international Act at the #MOBOAwards well done.’

    Others including Mo Abudu and Banky W have also congratulated the ‘Ojuelegba’ crooner.

    The award ceremony featured performances from the likes of Cardi B, Krept and Konan, Stefflon Don, Yungen and Britain’s Got Talent winner Tokio Myers.

  • Atiku visits Obasanjo

    Atiku visits Obasanjo

    Poor Atiku Abubakar. Every time he gets set to run for the highest office in the land, some invisible but sturdy obstacles are rolled on the way. His political opponents and their friends will reel off a legion of reasons why he should not run. Some will simply say in a most damning manner that he is not fit for the job; a former vice-president not qualified for the number one job?

    He has been derided for changing parties- as if he is the only notable politician who does this routinely. He has just jumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) ship. There are speculations that he plans to rejoin the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). That common action has attracted attacks and derisive jokes.

    On the social media has suddenly appeared a caricature of the Turaki Adamawa, smiling, in a doctor’s clinic, a heart monitoring equipment strapped onto his chest and a blood pressure cutt on his arm. The caption: “Atiku undergoing medicals at PDP Headquarters in Abuja. On free transfer.” Some soccer buffs at work, no doubt.

    It is, I dare say, a big credit to his tenacity and sense of purpose that Atiku, like a marathoner, stays the course. He keeps throwing his hat in the ring.

    There seems to be a problem of perception, his minders may have told him. He recently challenged anybody who insists that he is corrupt to come out with the proof or remain quiet forever. Again, to his credit, nobody has accepted that simple challenge.

    Atiku plans to pick the PDP ticket and give President Muhammadu Buhari a run for his money in 2019. Buhari has not said he will run? Will Atiku get the ticket? Nobody can tell, for sure.

    As usual, there have been suggestions, propositions and postulations on how the Turaki should go about his life-long ambition. Of all such suggestions, the most striking seems to be from former President Goodluck Jonathan. He asked Atiku to beg former President Olusegun Obasanjo – Atiku was the vice – president in the Obasanjo presidency – if he must realise his ambition. Obasanjo and Atiku had a turbulent relationship that almost cost the former a fresh tenure.

    The story is told of how Obasanjo grovelled before Atiku to get the governors’ support ahead of the crucial PDP convention. Those who claim to know Baba Iyabo closely – they are few, I am told – have sworn that was sacrilegious. The Ebora Owu, they stress, would surely take his pound of flesh in a bigger measure. He takes no prisoner.

    The Jonathan advice sparked a round of questions and speculations. Why should Atiku beg Obasanjo? What is his offence? Does anybody need Obasanjo’s endorsement? Will he speak for potential voters? Is the PDP ticket in Obasanjo’s pocket? Did Jonathan prostrate for Obasanjo when he wanted to run?

    The questions are so many. Some of them are ridiculous; others simply absurd. Besides, many have been suggesting how a meeting of Obasanjo and Atiku will go, if it ever happens. Here is one of such imaginary scenarios of such a meeting:

    Obasanjo springs up from a seat in his expansive sitting room as soon as Atiku is ushered in. He smiles briefly and offers a handshake. Atiku throws himself at him for a hug.

    “Please, sit down. Good to see you again. I’m sorry I couldn’t give an earlier appointment. I’ve been travelling. The problem in Zimbabwe, Kenya and so many others. Anyway, what brings you this time?”

    “Baba, I thank you for your time, for receiving me despite your tight schedule. I won’t take much of your precious time sir. I bring peace. You’re our leader; our pillar. We do not think it will be wise to take any important step without informing you and carrying you along.  In this country today, nobody can say you don’t count. You are not just an ordinary person; you’re an elder statesman. And…”

    Obasanjo cuts in, raising his right hand. “Please, go into the specific. What exactly do you want? That long introduction seems to be confusing. Straight to the point.”

    “Baba, I’m running and I wish to get your blessing.”

    Smiling, Obasanjo looks straight at Atiku, his visage betraying some incredulity. “You ’re running? Where to? Why? Is anybody pursuing you?”

    “No Baba. I’m planning to contest the presidency on the platform of our great party, the PDP. And I am honoured and privileged to be telling you this so that I can receive your blessing. Former President Jonathan and many other eminent Nigerians have advised me to visit you and settle whatever differences we may have. This is my mission sir.”

    “Hee he. Jonathan asked you to come here? Am I in their party? Please, I’m a statesman. I announced it that I’m no longer a politician. When I resigned from PDP or whatever they call themselves, I didn’t do corner corner o. I tore their card. So, if that boy, em…eeem…eeeem… Jona, is telling you to come and you’re coming here, is he sincere? I remain a farmer and a statesman. One million Atikus can’t change that whether they are running or walking or flying. I’m sorry, Mr Atiku.”

    “You seem to be getting it all wrong sir. I’m not asking you to come out of retirement and campaign for me. No. I’m only informing you and asking you to bless me so that I can succeed.”

    “Again, I’m not a politician. Are you listening? I’m too honest and frank to remain in that circle – of lies, backstabbing, intrigues and corruption. Deceit. No. I’m done. My politics now is Nigeria. Anybody who says Nigeria will not rise and move forward, I am ready to go konkobilo with that person. So, oga, that is my position.”

    “Baba, I salute your sincerity – and courage. You are not the type who will deceive anybody to score cheap political points. You’re blunt. There are many of us in the race. That is why I crave your endorsement. You must have an opinion on this important matter.”

    “Yes. I have heard that some of you are warming up. I’m not the type that fears. I have my opinion on each and everyone of you. The other boy (wetin be im name now o?). Obasanjo scratches it aggressively. He looks up and continues.

    “Makarfi. Yes; I hear he too wants to contest. I know he used to be governor of Kaduna. He was a senator. And now chairman of what they call Caretaker Committee. Hmmm…

    “Sule Lamido is my boy, but dem say he get baggage. And you know Buhari is a soldier. He will simply ambush him and that will be the end of the matter.

    “Buhari sef. I said so that he will not steal. He will fight corruption and jail all the thieves making noise and gallivanting all over the place. But Buhari may not do well in the economy. I said so. No be so?”

    “Baba, I thank you for your insight. The words of our elders… . Do I take it that I have your blessing to pick the PDP ticket for 2019?”

    Hmm…hmmmm…hmm (Obasanjo clears his thrioat). “PDP my foot. I don’t care who gets the PDP ticket. Dat one na dem toro. I’m not a member and I don’t plan to be one. Let them sell it or give it or dash it to whoever they like. Me o, Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo, I don’t care. A statesman I will remain. I thank you for visiting.”

    A crowd of reporters and photographers have set up a camp outside the door. As Obasanjo and his guest emerge from the main house, they spring up onto their feet and rushed towards them.

    “Baba, good afternoon. How are you sir?”

    Obasanjo, smiling without showing his teeth:”I dey kampe, as you can see.”

    “How did the meeting go?”

    “Which meeting? No meeting o. You know Christmas will soon be here. The former VP came to wish me merry Christmas. Is anything wrong with that? And I wish you all Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.”

    After a handshake with Obasanjo, Atiku walks briskly towards his car, adjusting his agbada. The reporters rush to catch up with him.

    “Sir, how did it go? Is it true you came to tell Baba to support your ambition? Did he promise to back you?”

    “Baba has spoken and that is all. I have no comments – for now. Have a nice day, my friends.”

    An aide opens the door. Atiku jumps in and the car rolls out of the large compound.

    The Maina roadshow returns

    After a short break, the Abdulrasheed Maina  roadshow is back. The fugitive civil servant, in an interview with Channels Television from an unstated location, has been reeling off incredible facts and figures emanating from his work as the head of the controversial Pension Task Force Team.

    Perhaps out of ignorance or sheer sense of impunity, some key government officials have allowed themselves to be roped into the Maina mess. There are desperate efforts to bring in President Muhammadu Buhari.

    It is too early to pronounce Maina guilty. He should forget about the threats he claims are being issued against him and return home to clear his name. In the court of law, he will be allowed to say all he knows about how trillions of naira have been creamed off neatly and roughly from the pension funds.

    It is sickening enough that Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, his Interior counterpart Abdulrahman Dambazzau and others have been named in the botched bid to reinstate and reward Maina with a promotion. But this should not be the main issue. Who are the fat cats who fed on the huge pension funds? Who took what? Where is the cash Maina claims to have recovered? From who?

    Until these and other questions are settled, the Maina matter will remain an arrow shot right at the heart of the anti-graft war. It must be resolved – fast.

  • The Atiku gambit

    The Atiku gambit

    His ambition to lead the country dates back to 1993. Then, he had age and the support of those that matter politically on his side. He was in his late 40s and he was a close ally of the master political strategist, the late Maj-Gen Shehu Yar’Ardua whose structure, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), he would have used to clinch the presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the other half of the National Republican Convention (NRC), which made up the  two parties decreed into being by the Babangida junta.

    Atiku Abubakar threw his hat into the ring long before the late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, who eventually emerged from the SDP convention in Jos, Plateau State, as the party’s standard bearer in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was annulled by Gen Ibrahim Babangida. Atiku reluctantly withdrew from the race after being prevailed upon by Yar’Adua, who had initially given him the nod to run.

    Since 1993, Atiku has matured politically, building bridges across the country in his determined bid to be president. When the country prepared to return to democracy in 1999 he oiled the old PDM machinery and moved into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was set to fight for its presidential ticket when circumstances intervened. Some retired generals, who once ran the country, felt that a member of their constituency should take the first bite at the plum job. After a long search, they settled for Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, who was then in prison.

    The Obasanjo presidency faced challenges within because of Atiku’s ambition. Atiku had won election as Adamawa State governor and was waiting to be sworn in when Obasanjo picked him as his running mate. But he was not satisfied being number two. He was reportedly plotting to be president. His relationship with Obasanjo became sour because of this. The presidency became divided and the crack was visible during the countdown to the 2003 election. Atiku, with the backing of PDP governors, who did not see eye to eye with Obasanjo, was ready to challenge his boss for the party’s ticket. The crisis was somehow managed and they ran again on the same ticket. But the seed of enmity was forever sown between them.

    To realise his ambition, Atiku has been jumping from one party to the other. In 2007, he dumped PDP for the Action Congress (AC) when he was deprived of the then ruling party’s presidential ticket. When Obasanjo heard of his plan to contest the election on AC’s platform, he sneered: I dey laugh o. He lost the election to former President Umaru Yar’Adua, who died in office in 2010. Towards the 2011 election, he ran back to PDP when he realised that AC, which metamorphosed to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), will not give him its ticket. The party fielded the former anti-graft czar Nuhu Ribadu, who lost to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Atiku found his way to the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the 2015 election when it dawned on him that PDP would give Jonathan a second term ticket. The former president lost to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is likely to get a second term ticket for the 2019 election. Having seen the handwriting on the wall, Atiku last week left APC. It is certain that his next destination is PDP, which has been swimming in crisis since it lost power in 2015. Atiku’s ultimate desire is not only to pick PDP’s ticket, but also to become president. Getting the ticket may not be easy considering the various interests within and outside the party.

    Many from the north are also interested in the ticket and it is certain that they will give Atiku a run for his money. Can he get other aspirants to subsume their interests under his? Won’t his coming further polarise the party? Of what electoral value really is Atiku? Does he have what it takes to lead PDP to victory in 2019 if he eventually joins the party? Besides, he has a big hurdle to clear in Obasanjo, who though no longer a card carrying member of the party, still packs a lot of weight within the fold. Will Obasanjo bury the hatchet and allow Atiku be? Can Jonathan, who is propping up Atiku, get Obasanjo to change his mind about the former vice president, who will be 72 by the time of the 2019 election? It will indeed be interesting to see how things play out for Atiku in what appears to be his very last chance at having a shot at the presidency.

  • PDP convention: Atiku backs Adeniran for chairman

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has thrown his weight behind the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship aspirant and former Education Minister Prof. Tunde Adeniran, it was learnt yesterday.

    A party source said the Turaki Adamawa, who is expected to defect to the party at the December 9 convention billed for Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), decided to support Adeniran, following consultations with prominent PDP leaders from the North.

    However, the former vice president is also holding consultations with other aspirants and party leaders across the zone on how to ensure a hitch-free convention.

    Also in the race are Chief Uche Secondus, Chief Bode George, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, and Mr. Jimi Agbaje. The list of members of the Convention Planning Committee may be released today after the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja.

    According to the source, “it is ironical that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is backing Adeniran, whose exit from the Obasanjo cabinet he plotted. There is no permanent enemy in politics, but permanent interest. Atiku is dancing to the tune of prominent party leaders from the North, who fear the implication of the Southwest not getting the chairmanship in 2019.”

    He added: “These northern leaders asked Alhaji Atiku to defect from the PDP for two reasons. One, they thought that his defection could only be meaningful and strategic, if he comes back to the party before or on the day of the convention. Two, the party elders from the region wants Atiku to neutralise the financial war chest of the governors bankrolling Secondus’ campaigns. They want the Southwest to get the chairman so that the zone will not compete for the position of the vice president with the Southeast in 2019.

    “Atiku is an experienced politician. He knows the implication of backing a particular candidate. But, he is in touch with other aspirants, appealing for peace and calling for calm. He knows all of them because he was in the party before.”