Northern consensus candidate: Atiku gets the nod

[Muhsin]

Northern consensus candidate: Atiku gets the nod
Tuesday, 23 November 2010 00:00    Suleiman M. Bisalla

- How Ciroma c'ttee chose him
- IBB, Saraki, Gusau pledge support
- Profile: The comeback kid
- Atiku: I am humbled


Several weeks of drama and suspense around the search for a Northern consensus presidential aspirant within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] ended yesterday with the choice of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar by the "Committee of Wise Men" led by former Finance Minister Malam Adamu Ciroma.
Following his selection, General Ibrahim Babangida, Governor Bukola Saraki and General Aliyu Mohamed Gusau all congratulated him, signalling their withdrawal from the PDP primary race.


The Adamu Ciroma-led committee was mandated by the four Northern PDP presidential aspirants to help them decide on a consensus candidate in order to approach the PDP primary election with a common front in defense of the party's zoning arrangement, under which the North is supposed to produce the president until 2015. Babangida, Atiku, Saraki and Gusau had previously pledged to support whoever was chosen under the consensus arrangement.

Secretary of the consensus committee Malam Bello Sabo Abdulkadir who addressed a world press conference to announce the result in Abuja yesterday, said the committee had spent the previous 48 hours deliberating on the information collated from several weeks of consultations across the country. He refused to give the criteria used in arriving at the decision but said members had voted at the end of the exercise. He also refused to reveal the pattern of voting.

Flanked by Alhaji Bashir Yusuf and Senator Abubakar Mahdi, Secretary and member of the Northern Political Leaders Forum respectively, Secretary of the consensus committee Abdulkadir said the three other aspirants had reassured the committee that they will work together to enable Atiku Abubakar clinch PDP's ticket for the 2011 presidential election.

A four paragraph statement signed by chairman of the committee Alhaji Adamu Ciroma and its Secretary Alhaji Abdulkadir read in part: "We are pleased to announce that we have concluded our assignment of arriving at a consensus candidate today [Monday] and one out of the four aspirants who submitted themselves to the process has emerged. He is ATIKU ABUBAKAR.

"We are glad and proud that we have finally arrived at this outcome after several weeks of hard work and wide consultations. We are proud because of the unusual honour and extraordinary privilege given us by the four gentlemen who placed their political destinies in our hands. We are humbled by the strength of their faith. We appreciate their humility and cooperation. We have been reassured by all of them that they will work together to enable Atiku Abubakar clinch their party's ticket in the presidential primaries.

"We thank all Nigerians, supporters and critics alike for their views over these past several weeks. While we note these views and respect each one of them, we insist that no individual, organization or society dreaming of success and greatness can achieve these dreams without respect for others and honouring agreements voluntarily entered into. This is especially so where these agreements have been transformed into a binding document, a constitution, which governs the conduct of those who subscribe to it.

"We call on all Nigerians to reflect on this. We also call on all delegates to the forthcoming party conventions to take these into account while casting votes."

They said the consensus arrangement was worked out following the insistence of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the presidential election in violation of the zoning arrangement of the PDP.

DAILY TRUST

[Muhsin]

Assalamu alaikum,

I wish I could resist the temptation to comment on this issue. But I'll start by simply congratulating Buhari! InshaAllah this is the end of the PDP, and time for revolutionary change in the history of this country's democracy era; for I'm sure Atiku even if he defeats GEJ in primaries he will not (though inshaAllah) win general election. He's not any better than the present president. What has he ever achieved in his whole political life? NOTHING!

Ciroma and co., you get it awfully wrong here. I wonder o!

[*~MuDa~*]

This country so called leaders are insane! This is total madness! We shall see then!

[bakangizo]

This country so called leaders are insane! This is total madness! We shall see then!

To be fair to the selection committee, Atiku would appear to be a better choice (for PDP) than the rest. IBB would be a hard sell to Nigerians, especially in the southwest. And I can't see people voting for Gusau as a presidential candidate. Based on what? That leaves Saraki. He might even be a better presidential material than Atiku, but do you honestly see him beating Jatau Mai Sa'a in the primaries? They can't take that risk. This has just exposed the PDP as not having credible aspirants.

[Muhsin]

Salam,

Simply term it as: Mistake of 2009! Ciroma and Co., I repeat, have got it very wrong. I wish I had the opportunity to make them undo that selection, wallahi.

Yeah, Saraka could have been a better choice, while the remaining contenders are in one way or the other kubeji--hard sell, as BKGZ says, in the South.

[gogannaka]

Atiku is the cat with nine lives they say.
He has the structure on ground to beat Jona.
What the NPLF did is not an easy job. Don't forget that they consulted all the regions and leaders before endorsing Atiku.
What makes me proud is the support all the remaining contenders gave Atiku.

Allah ya bawa Atikun sa'a akan Jatau.

[bakangizo]

Gaskiya kam he's the cat with nine lives  ;D What I don't like about him is his lack of principles. Here's a former VP literally chased out of the party in a humiliating manner. He left, calling the party all sort of names. Formed another party, through which he promised to 'liberate' Nigerians. Then when he sees that the AC cannot guaranty him the presidential seat, sai ya lashe aman shi ya dawo. The PDP offered the best platform to get to Aso Rock. He's so desperate about that seat. And in that manner no different from Buhari - both held this compelling and incurable notion that they must be president. And any party that does not offer the possibility for them to run, is not for them.

[Abu-Fatima]

I think this is a political master-stroke by the Ciromal led committee, and the following lessons can be derived from it: First that IBB, Saraki and Gusau accepted their verdict in the spirit of one North as against the It-is-me or no-one-else stance of Buhari and Co shows that the PDP has more selfless juggernauts in its ranks that the other political parties: comparing Buhari to IBB, do you think Buhari can ever step aside for anyone else in the run for the presidency? Second, that Atiku, under normal circumstances after serving as VP for 8 years was the natural successor to OBJ, and by bringing in Atiku not only is the ground prepared to undo all the political wrong doings of OBJ that frustrated Atiku from attaining his "natural mandate" to contest for the PDP in the 2007 General Elections, but to return to Ceaser what belong to him. Third, for the first time in a very long time, the North is presenting a politically unified front, at least within the ruling PDP.

[Muhsin]

Atiku is the cat with nine lives they say.
He has the structure on ground to beat Jona.
What the NPLF did is not an easy job. Don't forget that they consulted all the regions and leaders before endorsing Atiku.
What makes me proud is the support all the remaining contenders gave Atiku.

Allah ya bawa Atikun sa'a akan Jatau.

Is that all Nigeria and Nigerians want?

I think this is a political master-stroke by the Ciromal led committee, and the following lessons can be derived from it: First that IBB, Saraki and Gusau accepted their verdict in the spirit of one North as against the It-is-me or no-one-else stance of Buhari and Co shows that the PDP has more selfless juggernauts in its ranks that the other political parties: comparing Buhari to IBB, do you think Buhari can ever step aside for anyone else in the run for the presidency? Second, that Atiku, under normal circumstances after serving as VP for 8 years was the natural successor to OBJ, and by bringing in Atiku not only is the ground prepared to undo all the political wrong doings of OBJ that frustrated Atiku from attaining his "natural mandate" to contest for the PDP in the 2007 General Elections, but to return to Ceaser what belong to him. Third, for the first time in a very long time, the North is presenting a politically unified front, at least within the ruling PDP.

I still can't see why Atiku? What has he to offer to Nigeria? What has he done in that seat of VP? Yes, under "normal circumstances" Atiku should be the successor to OBJ but I think that would have been more substantive if he had anything tangible to show to Nigerians. All he famously (or infamously) did was fighting the president over his self-interest, pulling strings in appointing ministers and other federal offices for the sake of "return" which they gave him, making sure privatization was put in place, among other things. That is why I am yet to read, hear or see any positive response to his crowning as the Northern consensus candidate from almost all angles of this nation (maybe I should add: except yours).

[bakangizo]

I hope people won't forget that he's a Northern PDP Consensus candidate. Not the North's choice. He is certainly not my choice. I know I'm not voting him (or any PDP candidate for that matter), so his suitability or credibility does not bother me one bit.

[Abu-Fatima]

Hausawa sunce damai kama ake kota, kuma mai kaman zuwa ake aike. Do you doubt that PDP is the Party most likely to win the presidential elections come 2011? Don't you think of the possibility that Atiku Abubakar of today is, in a way, a born again? Someone who will learn from his past mistakes and take us to the promise land. Please let us be optimistic, at least it is good for our health.

[gogannaka]

For now Atiku has the egde over the Jonathan/Sambo organization.
Whenever he talks, they are so quick to respond that their desperation and fear is vividly seen.
Since the process of choosing a consensus candidate came up,Mr president has made all his facebook status updates about the north/south dichotomy.
The Vice president is also desperate enough that you could see him trembling when asked about things atiku said about this government.

Below is an excerpt from the Vanguard newspaper of nov 26. Note the tone with which the Jonathan Sambo organization responded to Atiku's claim of a negative economic trends during the Jonathan regime:

Speaking to newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Vice-President Sambo affirmed that the PDP would use its constitution in choosing its presidential candidate even as he flayed the process adopted by the Ciroma as undemocratic.

Sambo asked: "Who said that there is a consensus candidate for the North, who said so?

Because we are not aware of any northern consensus candidate because our understanding differs and the North has no consensus candidate for this election for PDP.

PDP has constitutional avenues, we have our constitution of the party on how we select our candidate for our different positions for election.

"And just two days ago INEC  presented the timetable which I can assure you the PDP will follow that time table. We will follow the constitutional processes for the election of our candidate."

'Atiku should have been in jail'

Responding through the Director of Research and Strategy in the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation, Mr. Mike Omeri, Jonathan expressed shock that Atiku could be talking about the economy despite his role in eroding the health of the economy during his time as Vice-President.

Affirming that Atiku should rather be in jail on account of his alleged misdeeds, the campaign organisation said:

"We are all witnesses to the kind of economy Atiku ran as Vice President when he mortgaged our common heritage to himself and his cronies. Atiku is the least person to talk about economy he ran aground.

He lacked the moral standing and should be schooled on basic economies. Jonathan is only working hard to clean the mess of corruption bequeathed by Atiku.

"It is sad that Atiku who ordinarily should be behind bars for bringing the nation's economy to its knees when he supervised the selling of our collective wealth in the guise of privatisation would have the temerity to speak ill of a hard working President like Goodluck Jonathan."

While accusing Atiku of mischief, Jonathan maintained that the figures portrayed by his rival were contrary to facts and figures produced by international rating agencies and institutions.

"We maintained that Nigeria's external debt at the point of exit in 2005 was $3.5 billion dollars and only rose to $4.5 billion dollars in 2010. Only this month, the IMF confirmed that the economy of sub-Saharan Africa will be among the best performing in the world this year and next, lagging only behind those in emerging Asia.

IMF also raised its growth forecast for Nigeria's economy to 7.4 per cent in both 2010 and 2011 from seven percent and 7.3 percent respectively.

"In fact, we are the third fastest growing economy in the world today by IMF and World Bank. Anybody can go the internet and download this information. Our economy rating since Obasanjo administration till date has remained B.B rating.

We have not been downgraded. With all the respect, Atiku displayed emptiness and ignorance commenting on our economy, and such a man should not dream or contemplate managing an economy he knows next to nothing about."

Affirming that Atiku had nothing to offer, he said: "We make bold to counsel Atiku to focus on issues as they would improve the lot of Nigerians and not resort to mudslinging. Those who resort to mudslinging are just empty barrels. It shows that they have nothing to offer."

[bakangizo]

Hausawa sunce damai kama ake kota, kuma mai kaman zuwa ake aike. Do you doubt that PDP is the Party most likely to win the presidential elections come 2011? Don't you think of the possibility that Atiku Abubakar of today is, in a way, a born again? Someone who will learn from his past mistakes and take us to the promise land. Please let us be optimistic, at least it is good for our health.

I admit that PDP stands a good chance of winning the pres election. But that's not because it is popular or anything. Its perceived greater chance than the other parties is simply due to the Federal might that would most likely be brought into play during the election. How is Atiku a born again? On what basis? If the political protitutions he exhibited between AC and PDP is what you call born again, then God help us. In his 8 years as VP, what has he done to deserve to be elected as president of this country? And I'm talking morally and otherwise.

Like I said, I don't care if Atiku is PDP candidate. Its not my problem cos I ain't voting anything PDP. And, yes, I agree we should be optimistic. So I'm optimistic Nigerians would rise up and finally chase out PDP, whoever, or whatever, is their candidate.

[Muhsin]

@Abu Fatima and GGNK,

My questions...? I see BKGZ asked the same as well.

BTW, read this comment from GEJ from his facebook page:

''I was loyal to my leader, the late great President Umaru Yar'adua. I am loyal to Nigeria, I don't claim to represent North, 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?'' GEJ

The man is so desperate to remain in that hot seat of president. Look at how beggarly he sounds. Pathetic!