[size=14pt]Presidential race: Ribadu better than Buhari—-Adamu Song[/size]
From Kenny Ashaka, Jos
Friday, April 01, 2011

Former national leader of the Alliance for Democracy, (AD), Alhaji Adamu Usman Song, has declared that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is better than General Muhammadu Buhari. Ribadu is the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential candidate. Buhari is his counterpart in the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

He submitted that the North was incapable of stopping President Goodluck Jonathan even if the ANPP presidential candidate, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau and Ribadu stepped down for Buhari.

Song told Daily Sun, “Looking at the northern candidates in the presidential race today, I believe Ribadu is better than Buhari any day, anywhere because whatever sentiments the North is expressing, Ribadu is in that class. Ribadu represents a generational change. As a young man, he has all it takes because he has never been there. But Buhari was there before. We saw how Buhari prevented people from doing their basic responsibilities.” Excerpts:

North cannot stop Jonathan
Lawal Kaita is only expressing his right of expression about the North which he is entitled to. But definitely, Kaita cannot speak for the whole North. He may speak for himself and, may be, his household. How can the North stop Jonathan from winning the presidential election? The North cannot stop him from winning. How are they going to do that? It is unfortunate that Kaita believes everyone in the North thinks the same way he does.

There are people in the North who can look at Kaita in the eyes and do the right thing.
In any case, which North is Kaita talking about? Is it the North that defeated one of their own, the so-called Northern Political Leaders’ Forum (NPLF) candidate ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the PDP presidential primary? Why can’t these people learn lessons? You fielded a candidate at a mere shadow election and lost. Is it now that all northerners in the party are supporting their candidate that they would win? Did they see the result of the primary election from the North at all?

The statement quoting him (Kaita) as having said that they are going into the election with everybody drawing his sword and that only God knows how many people will die is very worrisome. You can see how our elders do not think about peace, their children and grandchildren but themselves. After them, they do not care whether the world would continue or not.

Ribadu, better than Buhari
If Buhari is destined to win the forthcoming presidential election, he doesn’t need anybody to step down for him to do so. Did Alhaji Shehu Shagari win the 1979 election by somebody in another party stepping down for him?
If it is Buhari that Nigerians want, they will vote him. Whether anybody steps down for Buhari or not, if he is not destined to win the election he will not win. Looking at the northern candidates in the presidential race today, I believe Ribadu is better than Buhari any day, anywhere because whatever sentiments the North is expressing, Ribadu is in that class. Ribadu represents a generational change as a young man. He has all it takes because he has never been there.

But Buhari was there before. We saw how Buhari prevented people from doing their basic responsibilities.
Having said all these, I believe that for the sake of the unity of this country we pride as our own, Jonathan should be given the opportunity. We should stop these sentiments about where somebody comes from at elections. That will no longer work in this country. People should stop being old fashioned because ultimately what Nigerians want is a performing President anºšd not a President pushed there on sectional or tribal sentiments. God bless Nigeria.

CPC ran the worst campaign
The campaign teams of the five prominent candidates that have not much problems are those of the PDP and of course that of the ANPP. The presidential candidate of the CPC is the worst of them all because wherever he goes, he spreads problems and brings chaos. For the candidate of the ACN, he lacks proper organization. So, basically, our problem is with the candidates from these two parties. The PDP has fared well apart from the Port Harcourt problem; otherwise all the other places they have gone to for their campaigns have been incident free.

Most of the political problems and bombings we are having are associated with the two political parties especially the CPC. It is not the responsibility of INEC to examine the conduct of the supporters of any candidate or political party. That is the responsibility of the various parties. Handlers of these two parties should begin to educate their supporters on the need to shun violence because the experience of Nigerians during the campaigns has shown that the tendency for violence is more on the side of these two parties and I believe they know it.

Many governors, legislators will go
I believe in the ability of Prof. Attahiru Jega. But with the way things are going and the recent discovery of the Police about some people operating within the INEC to do and undo some candidates, I believe that before the elections, those areas would be smoothened. From my reckoning and with a man like Jega, coupled with what they have put on ground, certainly some governors will not come back. The non-performing governors should move their luggage out of their government houses now, because the era of not allowing votes to count is over.

There is nothing they can do. I also foresee a combination of members of the prominent parties in our legislative arm of government. I believe that would be good for Nigeria because the legislature will then be a true reflection of the wishes of the people. That would be democracy in the true sense of the word. I strongly believe that a lot of the governors and legislators would kiss the ground

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/apr/01/national-01-04-2011-008.htm

Ribadu is light years ahead of Buhari. It is an insult to compare both of them. It's just like comparing Mercedes Benz SLK 2011 to Pegout 504 of the 80's. Where will you start comparing them from? Buhari has shown that he is very selfish by not stepping down to support Ribadu.