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The former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has put an end to his 2011 presidential campaign by formally shutting down the Atiku Campaign Organisation. Mr. Abubakar, who announced the closure at the 1, Luanda Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja office of the organisation, however told the members of staff of the organisation gathered there that he was not a quitter and that anyone who thinks otherwise is making a mistake. "As you all know, the convention (PDP presidential primaries) fell short of our expectations. You should not despair (and) on my own part, I want to assure you that I am not a quitter. If you think that I am quitting and giving up, you are making a mistake," he said. He also said that only a few gave his bid for the PDP presidential ticket any chance of getting far...

"However, we were able to reach a number of important milestones along the way. Some said I was not going to be allowed to return to the party (PDP), but I did. Some said I was not going to be given a waiver, I got a waiver. Some said I may not emerge as consensus candidate, but I prevailed. Some said I was not going to go through the screening process, but I scaled that hurdle. We were also able to travel the country and interact with party delegates. And we became very competitive," he said. GREAT TEAM He described the campaign directorate and staff as supportive, and hailed them for their commitment to the campaign efforts, insisting that the bid was not lost due to their failure. "I would like to say that our inability to prevail last week Thursday (January 13) was not due to your failure;

it was not due to your lack of effort or commitment. I know that you were committed and that you worked hard. So, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You should, therefore, hold your heads high and never despair," Mr. Abubakar said. He again re-affirmed that since the conclusion of the PDP Convention on January 13, he has been holding consultations with members of his family and political associates and that these consultations are ongoing. "In the meantime, we shall be winding down activities at this campaign office and closing the office so that you may get back to the other aspects of your lives. I thank you for your hard work and sacrifices," he said. He, however, assured them that the team ‘shall reconvene' at a later date. Director General of the Atiku Campaign

Organisation, Ben Obi has said that irrespective of the outcome of the PDP presidential primaries, Mr. Abubakar ‘remains a political force to be reckoned with in Nigeria.' "The country needs the services of this man. There is no way anybody can form a government without the support of the Turaki," he said. "We will come back again and so be ready to be called upon, even at short notice, whenever the situation demands. For now we cannot keep you all together, but I know that we still have some steam left in our avowed commitment to working together with Nigerians to make good things happen in our dear country."

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday won the Peoples Democratic Party's presidential primaries. His victory came after a spirited contest with former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, and veteran aspirant, Sarah Jubril. Tunde Adeniran,

the Chief Returning Officer of the party who declared the result said out of the total valid vote of 3, 542, Mr Jonathan pulled 2, 736 while his closest rival Mr Atiku scored 805. Sarah Jubril got only one vote. Defeat at home The significant loss for Mr. Abubakar was in his home state of Adamawa where Mr. Jonathanscored a whopping 76 votes to Mr. Abubakar's paltry 31. Mr. Jonathan in his home state of Bayelsa got all the 67 votes of the delegates. Last night at the Eagles Square where the event held, Mr. Abubakar, for the umpteenth time, furiously deplored alleged disrespect for the party's zoning policy by his "main opponent",

Mr. Jonathan, a theme that has stood central to Mr. Abubakar's months of campaign, and laced his last speech to the delegates, and the nation, shortly before the voting began. "In 2002, an expanded caucus of our great party met and reaffirmed that policy," he read from a prepared speech. "My main opponent was at that meeting and voted in favour of that resolution. He signed as number 35 on the list. Today,he pretends that that ..meeting never took place and that the resolution never happened.

"Yet, he would not summon a meeting of our party to discuss that issue and if deemed appropriate jettison it. In fact, on October 27, 2010, he publicly declared that zoning does not exist in our party. Talk about throwing away the ladder that got you up there! That is not the kind of person you would entrust the fate of this country," Mr. Abubakar said. In a bellicose speech, he warned that "If rules can be thrown away by just anyone who feels that he is powerful enough to do so, then it is an invitation to lawlessness and anarchy. Nobody wants that. "Our word must be our bond. But my main opponent believes in doing things simply because it is convenient. He does not seem to care if the country is thrown into chaos and anarchy as long as he remains in power.

This is dangerous," he stressed. The long-awaited event earlier billed for 10am yesterday, set off later actually late afternoon amid strict security presence that frisked every entrant to the venue ranging from party locals from the states, governors, and federal lawmakers. Officials of the State Security Service, police, Civil Defence Corps, mounted security with sniffing dogs and bomb detectors while two police helicopters hovered above the venue as the event held.

After a long wait, Mr. Abubakar and Mr. Jonathan arrived at 4.22pm and 5.30pm respectively, long after Ms. Jubril had arrived and taken a seat up front within the glassed compartment. The president, walking apart with his wife, Patience, sauntered in and shook hands with both contenders before the events began seven minutes later. After months of intense campaign of harsh rhetoric between the two main aspirants, the convention provided the chance for a

face-to-face meeting between the current president and the former vice president. Both men spoke after Ms. Jubril, who rallied the women folk to set in a new era of equal balance in politics between both genders. Full of energy and appeals to the women and underprivileged in society, she says with a female president, Nigeria will not be considered a corrupt country any more. She dubbed herself ‘Mama President' and ends her address with a rendition of ‘We shall overcome'. That set the stage for Mr. Abubakar, who for a while after aonfrontational beginning, directed his address to appealing to delegates and Nigerians to view him as the tool for a change, promising jobs, better security, power, education, and peace in the Niger Delta. Mr. Jonathan paid tribute to the late Mr. Yar'Adua first as he began a speech that clearly cashed in the temperamental start of his chief challenger.

"I will not join issues with anybody because I believe Nigerians know all of us and our history and they will choose who they like," he said. "Dear delegates, if you give me and Architect Namadi Sambo your mandate, we will give this country a strong leadership and we will never let you down," he added. He said Mr. Abubakar's, whom he referred to as "some other contributors" questioning of insecurity in the Niger Delta, was misplaced since rising oil output in the region showed that security in the area had improved. "I will give this country a strong, strong leadership to be a greater nation,"

Talks have reached an advanced stage between the Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] and the Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN] to produce General Muhammadu Buhari as presidential candidate of a joint CPC/ACN ticket for the 2011 elections with former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as his running mate, top sources in both parties told Daily Trust in Abuja at the weekend. The sources denied media reports that the talks had collapsed...

High level sources in the two camps confirmed to Daily Trust the possibility of the Buhari/Tinubu ticket but said there are still challenges ahead. Our sources said that though the Tinubu associates feel the ticket is 'perfect' in view of the political strength of the two men in the North and Southwest respectively, some Buhari associates are treading cautiously to avoid compounding the 'erroneous' perception of Buhari as a religious zealot should he run on a Muslim/Muslim ticket in the election.

Some of his associates who reason against the Muslim-Muslim ticket are said to have advised that Buhari should consider picking a running mate from the Southeast. In view of this, they are said to have commenced discussions with some Igbo leaders including former vice president Alex Ekwueme. But CPC leaders who reject the Southeast running mate idea have told the General that there is at present no politician in the South East who has the standing that Asiwaju Tinubu has in the South West.

Tinubu's position was enormously enhanced in political circles by ACN's serial regaining of Edo, Ekiti and Onus states from the PDP through the courts. Even though Ondo State's Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who also toppled the PDP through the courts, officially belongs to the Labour Party, he is seen as another Tinubu ally.

A top source in the ACN who sought anonymity said the Buhari/Tinubu combination is not a serious impediment, and that Nigerians are only going to take it as "another doctrine of necessity." He said he believed that even the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] will welcome Tinubu's candidature because of his "sense of justice to the various religions" when he was governor of Lagos State.

The source said, "Nigerians will see it as another doctrine of necessity. We must look at Bola Ahmad Tinubu as a person that is acceptable to the Christians. As a governor, he promoted harmony among all religions. I know that there is a mosque and chapel in the Lagos government house where he ruled for eight years.

I know he returned schools to missionaries, both Muslims and Christians. So I do not see that as a serious impediment. And don't forget that there are certain parts of Nigeria, the south west in particular, where religion doesn't play too much role as a factor in politics. In south west, it is more about personality."

But even if serious talks are revived between the two groups, there are a number of tricky details to contend with. For instance, going by the electoral laws, it is now too late to do a merger of political parties. The question now has to do with the nature of agreement to be entered into, and whether such an agreement will only apply to the presidential election or across board.

Buhari and his associates in the CPC have always insisted on 'alliance' that would give Buhari the presidential slot so that the ACN will produce his running mate. But the ACN had insisted on 'merger' until the time for that elapsed based on the electoral laws.

A high level source in the ACN told Daily Trust that the last thing the ACN will agree to is an 'alliance' with the CPC. The source said it does not have to be a merger so long as it is not an alliance. The fusion he said could be in a name change, "even if it is something like ACPC."

He said the ACN is sceptical about entering into a merger agreement with Buhari because many of the members still believe that he is not yet "democratically domesticated enough" to be trusted to handle an alliance of different parties after winning an election. The fear is that General may not be accessible after election.

"But if we are all in the same political party, there is always a National Executive Committee [NEC] to call him [Buhari] and say look we want this, we don't want this," he said.

It would be recalled that a group of Democratic Peoples Party [DPP] members led by 2007 presidential candidate of the party Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa had agreed with the then Action Congress [AC] and transformed into a new party, the ACN.

Meanwhile there are indications that General Muhammadu Buhari is under pressure within the CPC as a group of key supporters have told him that his only chance of ever becoming president lies in reaching some kind of understanding with a strong political group from the South, in particular the ACN.

Daily Trust learnt that the key allies have insisted that he must explore a working agreement with the ACN since the party has shown some interest in his candidature except if he wants "to go down in history as always being a candidate but never a president."

Buhari was said to have been challenged by the supporters during a meeting in Kaduna last Tuesday. Our source said the group appears to be succeeding as there are fresh moves to revive the stalled talks in order to find some common ground to work on.

Before now, Muhammadu Buhari's stiffness and possible sabotage by some of his close aides had made the CPC/ACN electoral understanding almost impossible, according to competent sources within both parties. The ACN even under its old name, Action Congress [AC] had never hidden its interest in working out an agreement with the two times presidential candidate of the opposition ANPP, now putative candidate of the newly formed CPC as a possible common front to dislodge the ruling PDP.

So far the effort has met with little success even as the national chairman of the ACN Chief Bisi Akande personally went to meet with the former military head of state on the same issue.

When contacted, Engr. Buba Galadima, member of the Board of Trustees of the CPC said the talks with CPC have never broken down as being speculated. He said the contact has moved to "a much higher level."

"There is greater understanding between both sides because we are naturally compatible; we are ideologically compatible and we firmly believe that there must be a change of regime come May 29, 2011. And we are all agreed that there is no sacrifice too much to make for that change to happen," he said.

National Director of Publicity of the ACN Alhaji Lai Mohammed who was contacted on telephone failed to respond to some critical questions but agreed that discussions are going on with various interest groups with a view to defeat the PDP in the 2o11 elections.

"Definitely I know there are still talks. These talks are not restricted to the two political parties. There are even people who are not politicians from all over Nigeria and are trying to talk to leaders of all political parties to come and save Nigeria from collapse. For it is clear that PDP cannot provide the true leadership Nigerians need," he said.

According to a highly placed source, former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme will head the committee that would screen those shortlisted and come up with what the source called “ a level headed, focused, acceptable candidate who also has the capacity to step into Atiku’s shoes come 2015” Top on the list is madam Ngozi okonjo Iweala others who may will likely make the list are Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, former Information minister, Emeka Chikelu, Ken Nnnamani, and Charles Soludo

what really baffles me is what is the beef these two have ? Obj chose hm as VP ! Or is it woman matter ?

From Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Idowu Sowunmi in Lagos, 11.26.2010
Former vice president and the northern consensus presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar yesterday lashed out at the seemingly irreverent response given by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday when asked to comment on the choice of his former vice president as the consensus candidate...

The Atiku Campaign Organisation also condemned the economic policies of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, stating that the federal government was taking deliberate attempt to distort facts and confuse Nigerians on the economic performance of the administration.

Obasanjo had on Thursday retorted, "I dey Laugh" when asked to comment on the choice of Atiku as the consensus presidential aspirant of a northern political group led by Adamu Ciroma.
But the deputy director general of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, Ibrahim Bashir revealed that when the former vice president was informed that Obasanjo laughed when asked to comment on Atiku’s selection, Atiku responded: "Why won’t he laugh; he would have rot in the Yola Prison if not for (General Ibrahim) Babangida and General Abdullsami Abubakar."
Still referring to Obasanjo’s comical stance on Atiku selection, Bashir said, "It was after all Obasanjo that first chose Atiku as vice president, when he had won his election as the governor of Adamawa State."

The Atiku Organisation also condemned the economic policies of the Jonathan administration, explaining that the federal government was deliberately distorting the facts and confusing Nigerians on the economic performance of the administration particularly in the implementation of the capital components of the 2010 Appropriation Act as amended and supplemented.
Said the organisation: "The Jonathan administration according to the Medium Term Expenditure Framework 2011-2013 has led Nigeria into a budget deficit of 6.06 per cent of GDP and plans a deficit of 5.75 per cent of the GDP in 2011 contrary to the provisions of Section 12 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act on aggregate expenditure ceiling.

"The three per cent rule can only be exceeded if in the opinion of the president, there is a clear and present threat to national security or sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or it may be exceeded if the National Assembly determines any other percentage as sustainable.

"Empirical evidence sho-ws that the administration had last year presented a budget containing deficits far in excess of the three per cent rule."

The Atiku Organisation held that "to state that the economy should not be the subject of political discourse is a display of ignorance," noting that the undulating fortunes of the Republican and Democratic parties in America have been based on the performance of the American economy.

"President Obama was elected on his superior economic reform agenda whilst the loss of a large number of congressional seats in the mid-term elections was premised on the slow rate of economic recovery particularly in creating new jobs and cutting down the deficit."

The organisation said the 2010 Amended and Supplementary Budgets provides N2,669.01 billion for recurrent non-debt expenditure, N1,764.69 billion for capital expenditure, N542.38 billion for debt service and N183.58 billion for statutory transfers.
"These figures as a percentage of the overall budget represent 52 per cent for recurrent non-debt expenditure, 34 per cent for capital expenditure, 10 per cent for debt service and four per cent for statutory transfers respectively," the statement explained.

The Federal Executive Council through the Minister of Finance, Dr. Olusegun Aganga had warned Atiku not to play politics with the economy, while the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation also took a swipe at the former vice president over his criticism that President Jonathan was mismanaging the nation's economy.

Atiku, had in a press conference on Tuesday asked some pertinent questions on the economy. "Why are our budgets not being implemented? Why has the money in our Excess Crude Account disappeared at a time when oil prices have been way above the benchmark used for our budget estimates? Why are our foreign reserves being depleted to dangerous levels leading to rating agencies downgrading our status?” queried Atiku.

But the Director Research and Strategy of Jonathan/Sambo Campaign, Mike Omeri, noted with dismay that Atiku displayed stark ignorance on the performance of the economy, explaining that even the International Monetary Fund acknowledged the upward movement of our economy and has rated the nation's economy as buoyant.
However, the Atiku Campaign Organisation yesterday disagreed and described the federal government’s claims on budget implementation as a fraud.

"Dr. Aganga had informed the House of Representatives in plenary in the first week of November 2010 that of the entire capital budget, only the sum of N749 billion had been released, cash-backed and was available for ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs) to draw from."
"This is however N1 billion less that the N750 billion he claimed to have released and cash-backed," the statement said.

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday, laughed off the recent selection of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the North’s consensus candidate by the Mallam Adamu Ciroma-led Northern PoliticalLeaders Forum (NPLF).

Pressed for his comments on the development by State House correspondents, after the meeting of the National Council of State, he volunteered in Pidgin English, saying “I dey laugh,” suggesting that he might not have taken the emergence of his former second in command very seriously.

He continued sarcastically, “I am full of joy and I wish you (journalists) and Nigerians the fullness of joy. I wish you peace and joy always,” to which reporters echoed “Amen.”

Also reacting, Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State told reporters that the North would soon speak on the selection of Atiku by the Ciroma-led committee...

Below is an excerpt from his brief exchange with reporters.

What’s your view on Atiku?
He is a presidential aspirant.

But, he is standing in for the North.
You have to ask the north

But you are a key member of the North.
Yes, I am, but you have to ask the North, because I am not the only person in the North.

What’s your personal view?
My view, the North will talk.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, took his detractors to task and challenged them on their level of commitment to the country, as the race towards the 2011 presidential election hots up.

In the bid to raise the bar on his campaigns and garner more support ahead of the primaries, President Jonathan, in a comment on his Facebook account, declared that he did not have bank accounts or properties abroad, while all his children live and school in the country.

While challenging those who accused him to say so, Jonathan said “I was loyal to my leader, the late great President Umaru Yar’Adua. I am loyal to Nigeria, I don’t claim to represent the North, the South or a committee - I represent Nigeria. I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy, I don’t have accounts or property abroad, All my children live and school in Nigeria. I am loyal to my wife and friends. Can those who accuse me say the same?”

The president had, in a previous comment, maintained that the only difference that needed to be made in the country was between good and bad, not North and South.

He challenged what he described as virulent attacks on his person by unnamed persons, whom he accused of calling him a disloyal person, saying that “I would only urge you to objectively look at my past and the past of those making these allegations and let your conscience guide you. As I said, the only difference we need to make in Nigeria is between good and bad, not North and South.”

In a related development, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, on Thursday, has said he did not recognise any consensus candidate for the North.

Sambo said this when he spoke with reporters at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, on arrival in Lagos.

“Who said there is a consensus candidate for the North? Who says so, because we are not aware of any northern consensus candidate. The North has no consensus candidate for this election for PDP,” he said.

The vice-president added that “we have our constitution as a party on how we select our candidate for different positions for election and just two days ago, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presented the timetable, which I can assure you the PDP will follow, with the constitutional processes for the election of our candidate.”

Sambo further added that the country would see the much-desired transformation and development under the administration.

“I can assure you that Jonathan/Sambo ticket is the ticket for this country to be transformed for future development, to see that Nigeria becomes one of the most developed countries in the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, the former National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliyu Gusau, in Abuja, on Thursday, said he gave his best to emerge as the consensus candidate of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF).

The General, who addressed his coordinators from across the states in Abuja, said the campaign organisation gave its best to clinch the position, but that it had resolved to allow God to dictate the pace of its activities.

Gusau said he was accepting the verdict of the NPLF because of his earlier resolve to abide by the decision of the Adamu Ciroma-led committee.

He said that he would still stick to his belief that he was right to have joined the presidential race, as he held the belief that he was the prized candidate Nigerians were waiting for to relive the nation of its leadership inertia.

“As you and I know, however, and for reasons which surpass human understanding, the race is not always won by the swift or by the fittest. As one who really subscribes to the majesty of God’s will, I believe we must all heartily welcome the verdict of the elders and readily cooperate with the winner. This is the path of honour; this is the hallmark of decency,“ he said.