Atiku: Obasanjo is PDP’s biggest mistake
FRIDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2010 05:55 GODWIN ISENYO
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•Otegbola, Apampa, Anisulowo, others reject ‘Yar’Adua treatment’ in Ogun
Godwin Isenyo, Kaduna & Kunle Olayeni, Abeokuta
FORMER Vice President and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday described his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as “the biggest mistake ever made by our party because he was taken from prison to become president.”
He urged the party to learn from the ugly experience in future political moves.
Atiku explained that Obasanjo was an unwilling horse in 1998, but was forced by the party leadership on Nigerians. He pointed out that PDP members must not allow such a mistake to happen again as the country approaches the 2011 election.
To Atiku, Obasanjo was never willing to become the presidential flag bearer of the PDP, but was forced by the party to bear the flag, and therefore cautioned the party to learn from Obasanjo’s experience not to drag an unwilling member into the 2011 presidential contest.
The former Vice President warned the party against making another mistake of electing “an unwilling president”.



Addressing members of the Kaduna State House of Assembly yesterday at the Lugard Hall, Kaduna, he also said: “I remain the only democrat among the other presidential aspirants” of the party, foreclosing any possibility of a consensus candidate in the forthcoming PDP party primaries.
He said that as a democrat, he does not believe in a consensus candidate, adding that he was prepared to face the other contestants at the primaries, saying that as a democrat, he does not believe in the idea of a consensus candidate.
According to Atiku, after serving as Vice President for eight years, “I am the only one who has the required democratic experience to lead the country.”
Said Atiku: “My former boss and former President Olusegun Obasanjo was somebody who came out of prison and was not ready to be President and we dragged him to be President from his Ota farm and you can see how Nigeria has ended after his tenure.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was founded on the basis of democratic norms because we wanted to establish a very strong and big political party so that we can be able to mobilise the people of this country to ensure that there will be no more military meddling into political affairs.
“I know nothing more than putting together my ability to build and manage political parties and also making them to win elections. I know what contribution I have made to ensure that PDP is what it is today. I know the contributions I made in deepening democracy in our party and in the country at large.
“I want to say that among all the presidential aspirants that are vying for president today, nobody is politically more qualified to be president than myself. This is because if you look at all of them, none has gotten the experience in democracy for eight years as much as I am today because we have never had an opportunity to have a democratic governance for more than eight years.
“Believe me, none of them is prepared to be president; is ready and want to be president as much as I am. I happened to be the greatest contributor to the development of this party and also the greatest contributor in deepening democracy and the rule of law.
“That is why today, nobody is competent or has the power to disqualify you from running from any office unless by a competent court because sometimes, if the government does not like your face, INEC will get up to say you are disqualified.
“Today, we are free also to change parties because of my struggles and my contributions to the rule of law so that democracy will strive in Nigeria. The independence of the legislators must be guaranteed under the constitution in a presidential system of government. I will not be President where the legislature is not autonomous because I want to govern with impunity.”
The former Vice President, who also visited the Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, lauded the transition that took place in the state when the then governor , Namadi Sambo, was elevated to be the Vice President.
He said: “I want to commend the transition that has taken place in Kaduna State in accordance with the constitutional provisions, and I also want to commend the good people of Kaduna State for the support that they have given to this democratic process as enshrined in our constitution.
“Ordinarily, your Excellency, in my visit to Kaduna State, I don’t really have to call you because Kaduna has been my second home since 1982 and I still continue to maintain my home, it is part of my family.
“I could have as well be part of this state but because we are on a kind of formal visit to Kaduna State to open our zonal campaign office, we requested for your kind permission, to call on you because we believe this opportunity that will be given to us will be used to kill two birds with one stone.
“I have no doubt in my mind that you have what it takes to lead the state, to ensure the dividends of democracy for the development of the state. I therefore wish to use this opportunity to wish you success, and I can assure you of my support all the time.”
However, there was a mild drama as the North-West zonal coordinator of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, Senator Mas-ud El-Jibril Doguwa, was beaten by some party loyalists for some undisclosed reasons.
He was later rescued by security agents.
This happened soon after the Vice President commissioned his North-West Zonal Campaign office in the metropolis.
Meanwhile, chieftains of the PDP in Ogun West Senatorial District yesterday vowed to resist the alleged plot by Obasanjo to impose General Tunji Olurin (rtd) as the zone’s governorship candidate in the 2011 elections.
Rising from a meeting in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of the state, the party chieftains, including Senator Ayo Otegbola, Chief (Mrs) Iyabo Apampa, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, and other notable leaders, contended that any attempt by Obasanjo to alter the consensus arrangement by the Yewa-Awori zone would be resisted.
Obasanjo and the Group of 15 lawmakers opposed to Governor Gbenga Daniel had last Sunday held a secret meeting in his hilltop presidential mansion, Abeokuta where they agreed on Olurin as the consensus candidate for the governorship and also concluded to field the former president’s daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, as his running mate.
But at the meeting presided over by Otegbola in Ilaro yesterday, PDP leaders, under the aegis of Ogun West Project 2011 Apex Committee, said people of Yewa-Awori had already picked Mr. Gboyega Nasir Isiaka as their consensus candidate for the poll.
They wondered why some people went behind to hold a secret meeting allegedly to tamper with the arrangement, stressing that they would never accept it.
The party chieftains also lamented that the plot to impose Olurin would negate the desire of teeming Muslim population of the state, who had strongly canvassed the emergence of a Muslim governor in 2011.
Other speakers at the event expressed fear that the plot may result in what was described as “the Yar’Adua treatment.”
In his remarks, Otegbola said Isiaka, a former Managing Director of Gateway Holdings Ltd, was picked as consensus candidate, following rigorous screening of 12 governorship aspirants for the coveted position.
According to him, factors such as educational background, exposure, experience and age were considered in choosing Isiaka. A PDP member, Alhaji Jelili Akingbade, condemned the move to foist Olurin/Obasanjo-Bello ticket on the Yewa people, saying the aspirants lacked the required popularity in Ogun West.
Akingbade said: “We need a governor that is healthy, we need a governor that will finish his term and go for a second term. We don’t want a governor that is over 70 years and his deputy will assist to complete his term.”

http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68663:atiku-obasanjo-is-pdps-biggest-mistake&catid=43:news&Itemid=799

Wumine:

what is bad about being taken from prison to become president? In my own opinion Atiku is more of a mistake than Obj fof making the statement

Ibro Yaya:

And he still went to beg him in Otta. Lol.
Atiku is the biggest mistake, Period!!

I know what contribution I have made to ensure that PDP is what it is today.

dappssee:

[size=16pt]If OBJ was PDP's biggest mistake, then Atiku is Nigeria's mistake[/size]

Ranks007:

Noooooooooo! Abeg no be Nigeria's mistake, na their family mistake to bare a useless son like him

orangemen:

to me, obasanjo and atiku know each other very well.
when in 2007 obasanjo told nigerians that atiku was a criminal, atiku accepted that but went ahead to tell nigerians that they are both in it.
because atiku swore to go down with obasanjo, that case died just like that. if atiku says obasanjo is a mistake, i think both of them are also in this as usual.
these are two great criminals nigeria and nigerians are suffering from.

Beaf:

And Atiku is Africa's biggest mistake.