The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has accused the NorthernPolitical Leaders Forum (NPLF) led by former finance minister, Mallam Adamu Ciroma of insincerity in the issue of a northern consensus candidate.

The campaign organisation of Mallam Ribadu made the accusation against the backdrop of the decision of the Northern leaders to brush aside his presidential aspiration and that of his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) counterpart, General Muhammadu Buhari.

Ribadu, in a statement signed by his director of communication and publicity, expressed disappointment that while the NPLF gave the impression that they were looking for presidential candidate from the North for the 2011 general election, they were actually looking for a Northern candidate under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“They had all along created the impression that they were looking for someone who would represent the interest of the entire North and not that of a section of the North.’ The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)wondered why the Forum would not back another Northerner other than Atiku Abubakar if they were really out to protect the interest of the North.

“With this development, it was likely that the Northern elders were actually looking for someone who would protect their own interest and not that of the North,’’ Ribadu noted in the statement. The NLPF, made up of nine-wisemen from the North and headed by Ciroma, was a group formed to resist a fresh mandate of four years for the incumbent President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and to pick a candidate of Northern extraction to fly the PDP flag in the April presidential election.

At the end of its screening exercise, the group anointed Atiku Abubakar ahead of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida; former National Security Adviser, (NSA), General Aliyu Gusau, and the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/feb/18/national-18-02-2011-002.htm