Abuja - Presidential hopeful Atiku Abubakar on
Friday derided Goodluck Jonathan's record on
security, vowing that Boko Haram could be
crushed easily if politicians chose to do so.
Abubakar, who was vice president under Olusegun
Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007, is looking to win the
presidential ticket for the main opposition All
Progressives Congress (APC) at next year's vote.
In an interview, he accused Jonathan and his
ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of lacking
the political will to end the insurgency, which has
killed thousands since 2009.
"This insurgency shouldn't have lasted even six
months," he told AFP in Abuja and recalled
sectarian religious violence in the northeast state
of Yobe during his time in office.
"Within weeks we crushed it because we did not
neglect military training and, of course, we did not
lack the leadership and the capacity to take
decisions," he added.
The army has in recent days claimed a number of
successes against the militants, who have seized
towns and villages across the far northeast in
their quest for a hardline Islamic state.
The apparent military gains came after top brass
admitted that Boko Haram's land grab threatened
the nation's sovereignty and multiple reports that
the militants had overrun soldiers.
'I'm more experienced than he is'
Abubakar has long harboured ambitions for
Nigeria's top job but fell out of favour with
Obasanjo towards the end of their tenure and
defected to an opposition party to contest the
2007 election.
He later rejoined the PDP fold but lost out to
Jonathan for the 2011 presidential ticket and
again defected last year, joining the APC.
Abubakar claimed he had been proved right about
Jonathan, with few visible improvements in
tackling corruption, poor governance and
accountability in addition to the worsening
security situation.


"I told Nigerians that he [Jonathan] did not have
the capacity, he didn't have the experience. He
didn't have anything and yet they gave him the
chance, the opportunity," he added.
"And they can now see the chance and the
opportunity they gave him. Of course I'm more
experienced than he is. I believe my capacity
cannot be compare with his, in all respect."
Jonathan is widely expected to stand for a
second, four-year term and this week PDP state
governors and the party's national executive
committee endorsed him as their only candidate.
Abubakar is likely to come up against a number
of formidable opponents for the APC ticket.
source. news24