[size=14pt]CPC, ACN alliance knocks out Ribadu
[/size]News Dec 28, 2010
By Leke Adeseri, South West Regional Editor


LAGOS—BARRING last minute changes, the much expected outcome of the alliance talks between the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, will be known today.
The most significant outcome of the friendship is that it has put paid to the presidential ambition of the former boss of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, under the ACN.
This followed the final talks held in Lagos last night where the CPC leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, is likely to run as joint presidential candidate of the CPC and Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, on ACN’s platform with former Ekiti State governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, as his running mate, according to feelers from top_level CPC/ACN alliance talks held at ACN leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s house at Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi.
The CPC team was led by Buhari himself whileTinubu led ACN’s team.
Joint presidential candidate
Sources said the ACN leaders had already accepted Buhari as their joint presidential candidate. However, at last night’s meeting, they demanded that, following the APP/AD alliance formula of 1999, the CPC leader should run on ACN’s platform, since it is already too late to merge the two parties, as the ACN leaders initially preferred.
The ACN’s leaders’ demand, sources said, was because CPC is little known in the West, where ACN is now dominant, and it would be easier for the ACN leaders if the joint candidate ran on their ticket. It was not clear whether the CPC leaders accepted the demand, which would make matters very difficult for them too, since CPC is just making an impact in the North and its supporters would be confused if asked to vote for ACN.
Another issue said to have dominated last night’s talks, was the issue of a running mate for Buhari. The ACN leaders’ first preference was for Tinubu, who became the most powerful politician in the South West with ACN’s snatching of several states from the PDP through the courts.
However, the CPC delegation was quick to point out the political dangers of fielding a Muslim_Muslim ticket, especially in some parts of the country such as the North Central Zone.
A flurry of political activities took place that tended towards reshaping the political landscape, particularly the outcome of the general elections expected to hold in April 2011.
Some of those activities included the amalgamation of opposition elements, under the auspices of Patriotic Electoral Alliance of Nigeria, PEAN, in their efforts to wrest power from the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
This was followed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s announcement of the shift and, perhaps, the final date for the conduct of the general election _ despite the pending debate at the National Assembly over the contentious Electoral Act.
Though an internal worry in the PDP, the emergence of the consensus candidate of the northern aspirants _ an exercise initiated by the Northern Political Leaders Forum, NPLF, led by the former Finance Minister, Adamu Ciroma, which endorsed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar _ was also another exciting activity which heightened the political tempo during the period in reference.
This is even more when the ambitions of heavy weights like former Military President Ibrahim Babangida; erstwhile National Security Adviser, Mohammed Gusau, and incumbent Governor of Kwara State who also doubles as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Bukola Saraki, were sacrificed for Atiku.
The implication of the development is that the coming elections would be a keen contest. PDP has within its ranks a lot of rivalries to contend with, particularly with the vexed issue of the zoning which has dangerously gravitated towards ethnic colouration of who flies the party’s flag.
Deployment of strategies
However, the most worrisome is the potential of opposition parties to supplant PDP in the coming election, deploying whatever strategies; be it through alignment, merger, coalition, alliance, union or whatever terminology they choose.
The tempo has indeed heightened in the last couple of weeks and given vent to the discourse on probable alliances against the PDP in a bid to wrestle presidential power from President Goodluck Jonathan.
Of all the alliances, however, the one that appears to be the greatest threat to the PDP is the merger or alliance talk between the ACN and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, championed by two heavyweights, Senator Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and unarguably the current strongest man in Southwest politics; and General Muhammadu Buhari, former military president, who today holds the record of the only Nigerian who has consistently but unsuccessfully sought to rule Nigerian in the last three general elections.
Though, it appears that the merger talks have witnessed many hitches, signals point to the possibility that both men are exploring other synergies to form a formidable force to confront their common foe.
Spokesmen of both parties, Lai Mohammed, ACN; and Denis Aghanya, CPC, agreed that there were irreconcilables over merger arrangement, but noted that the chances that alliances would sail through was a possibility.
The fact that ACN holds sway in the South West and are having serious impact in the South_South while CPC is the party to beat in the North, gave a ray of hope that there indeed was a possibility to wrestle power from PDP come 2011.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/12/cpc-acn-alliance-knocks-out-ribadu/

Papabrowne, with your thread title,  you show an example of the "do-or-die" mentality and "dem against us" insecurity killing the Jonathan camp with how you fail to understand that all this is about the struggle to make Nigeria great and not the need to place the ambition of individuals ahead of everything else. We have not heard any announcement so far and even if Buhari is eventually accepted as Joint Presidential candidate of ACN and CPC I would hope Ribadu would have been carried along by political stakeholders who should realise that it must be every hand on deck to defeat the PDP. Even if it is Buhari then there should still be high level  participation in governance for the likes of Ribadu and others who have a lot to offer because a smart potential government that plans to be effective cannot afford to make enemies of those who are some of our best performers and technocrats. It is the PDP that excels at cutting its nose to spite its face.  This will not be like the PDP model where the emergence of mediocre Yar adua signifies the banishment of Donald Duke, Ken Nnamani et al to accomodate other mediocrities and corrupt individuals like Aondoakaa, Aliero, Ruma et al.

If Ribadu does not get the ACN ticket then I would expect him , like many of us , down to a paramount love of nation above self, to accept this gracefully and join the efforts to make the ACN candidate the President of Nigeria in 2011 because , IMO , those who can move Nigeria forward will get their chance to play a part under a progressive political partnership . Uneccessary divisions and personal egotistic grandstanding has always ensured that the opposition to the PDP has remained impotent. Time to put all that aside even if Ribadu's Presidential ambition suffers . Unlike how atiku and Jonathan , members of the same Parties , are mudslinging shamefully Ribadu and Buhari have been respectful of each other . Perhaps because , as lovers of their nation , they do not want to destroy the chance of working with those they see as part of the good fight.

I really pity Ribadu. Spat out like a peace of dirt after being used.
The man should have kicked off his ambition in his state, perhaps as a Senator (as has been widely adviced). Right now, his political career is effectively over, he has sadly joined Nigeria's ranks of political no-hopers, the Chris Okotie's, "Abubakar" Saraki's and Dele Momodu's.

The above, of course is barring any last minute miracles.

Faeb:

I really pity Ribadu. Spat out like a peace of dirt after being used.
The man should have kicked off his ambition in his state, perhaps as a Senator (as has been widely adviced). Right now, his political career is effectively over, he has sadly joined Nigeria's ranks of political no-hopers, the Chris Okotie's, "Abubakar" Saraki's and Dele Momodu's.

The above, of course is barring any last minute miracles.

At least not at the expense of mediocracy. where you replace people like Donald and ken with Yaradua and GEJ definitely not the sharpest knives in the draw.

blacksta:

At least not at the expense of mediocracy. where you replace people like Donald and ken with Yaradua and GEJ definitely not the sharpest knives in the draw.

. . .And Tinubu is a drug lord?
Did someone say mediocrity?

What will his supporters do now?

The only thing ACN can achieve in this election is to have a legitimate primary process that will put PDP to shame. Any arrangee Presidential candidate will certainly fall flat.

Buhari does not have the capacity to win the next election, but if he emerges as arrangee candidate he will be even more weakened.

But the trouble is Buhari will only agree on a deal if the deal protects Buhari's interest. Anything else Buhari will not be in a deal.
Buhari is only after what is in it for Buhari. After failing in 2 elections you would expect the old mman to be a stateman and back one of those who have backed him for so long but NO. He will rather change parties than back anyone else.

Gbawe:

a smart potential government that plans to be effective cannot afford to make enemies of those who are some of our best performers and technocrats.

Sensible, sensible!

blacksta:

At least not at the expense of mediocracy. where you replace people like Donald and ken with Yaradua and GEJ definitely not the sharpest knives in the draw.

My brother , some folks are merely stating their own personal vengeful desire of what they want to happen because they only know how to transfer hatred and a lack of goodwill  to all those who oppose Jonathan. Nobody , even haters of Ribadu , will think he will ever join the ranks of "political no-hopers". He has distinguished himself too much for that.

Ribadu would be facing political wilderness[b] if the ACN and CPC think like the "do-or-die" PDP Party[/b] . It is the PDP , in "winner takes all" fashion detrimental to nation building, that treats it best performers as lepers just because they lost an internal Party election . Just look at how Atiku and GEJ are going all out to destroy each other. Do those two even understand the concept of respecting each other because they may have to work together for Nigeria's benefit in future ? Buhari has never hidden his admiration for Ribadu and vice-versa .

Unlike Yar Adua and the many insecure mediocrities the PDP churn up , I don't think Buhari will have any qualms working with those who can get the job done out of a  fears they will outshine him and steal his thunder. The like of Ribadu, El Rufai and co are now important to Nigeria . Any progressive government will not exclude them from office if the aim of said government is to improve Nigeria , in the shortest time possible , with the help of the best hands available. Mark my word , no progressive Government , genuinely desirous of Nigeria's accelerated development , can afford to omit the likes of Duke, Ribadu, El Rufai et al from important positions only to then go and  replace them with mediocrities to the detriment of Nigeria as the PDP has always done . The PDP does that because it is not interested in the development of Nigeria. For a great Nigeria we will need a great senate President, a great speaker of the house, a great AGF, a great EFCC chief , etc, etc , etc . The influential positions to be filled are many. A sincere President will want the best available even if they contested against him yesterday.

Has this been confirmed though? or just speculation.

Nigerians politics, I don tire.

Faeb:

I really pity Ribadu. Spat out like a peace of dirt after being used.

I don't understand, who 'used' Ribadu?

lol
Two failed politicians, Buhari and Adebayo, being propped up by a common crook, Tinubu. Jonathan go to sleep, you are the presido in 2011.

Do you guys honestly think any political party in Nigeria will sincerely support or endorse Ribadu for any top position? If you think so, it means you know nothing about politics in Nigeria.
Ribadu is known to be ego maniac and power drunk; most politicians (thieves) will not trust this dude. They will even pay to see dudes like Ribadu fail.
One of the top guns of ACN in Nigeria today happens to be Tinubu (a known powerful thief); how in this world do you guys expect folks like Tinubu to support ribadu?
Absolutely impossible.

Ribadu will only be wasting his time if he thinks he will win any political position in Nigeria at this time. May be in 20 years, but absolutely not at this moment.

Buhari is an obvious better candidate than Ribadu and GEJ.He however has a hitch in the fact that he toppled a democratically elected government.

I would have expected Buhari to get a prominent SE politician as running mate, Adeniyi Adebayo doesnt have that much clout in the SW.

Maybe Adams Oshiomhole would have been more reasonable

Anyways I support anything to boot the PDP out of power and disgrace OBJ

Abagworo:

Buhari is an obvious better candidate than Ribadu and GEJ.He however has a hitch in the fact that he toppled a democratically elected government.

That is not a hitch, it is a crime against this country that should not be forgiven because it sets a bad precedent and for this simple reason Buhari is unelectable.

Ribadu is not ready to be President. ACN seriously need to present something better if they are to be taken seriously.

texazzpete:

I don't understand, who 'used' Ribadu?

Tinubu did. The willy fox has ensured that no matter what Ribadu becomes in future, his word in evidence against Tinubu, even in a law court cannot be of any weight.
All it required was the dangling of a presidential candidacy he was never ever going to get and Ribadu fell headlong for it. Barring a miracle or Road from Damascus moment, Ribadu is now a political cast off, forever glued to the rubbish heap.

sochan:

Has this been confirmed though? or just speculation.

Nigerians politics, I don tire.

Speculation so far . We were told the CPC and ACN merger , along with the acceptance of Buhari as joint presidential candidate, will be announced today. So far , Nothing. Even if we see the confirmation of Buhari this does not signify the end of Ribadu at all . We all know that if the PDP is to be defeated then alliances would have to emerge strong enough to decimate the support base of the PDP . Buhari cannot be doing his thing in the North  with the CPC while Ribadu locks down the SW with the ACN. That will not defeat the PDP . In fact it will help the PDP's cause if popular candidates split Nigerian votes rather than unite to pool their votes together . To defeat the PDP the opposition politicians will , in the end , have to put selfishness aside and step down from the race to deliver their support base to the chosen opposition consensus candidate .

If this alliance works then we can say the Alliance already has the 6 SW states in the bag for the upcoming elections.

Also states like Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Zamfara, Jigawa where the Buhari influence is very strong. Almost 10 states before elections kick off.

But what would be the fate of the SE in this election?

same old rubbish that plagues us as a people. Una see am. So Ribadu is potentially on his way out, and people are on here saying he was never a credible candidate in the first place, the usal crap about how he cant win. These are probably the same people that talk down Pat Utomi's chances, But most importantly these are the same folk that do nothing about getting Nigeria out of her current woes. They are damn lazy arm-chair politicians, see nothing good in others, quick very quick to dismiss those who have ventured to dream. Why dont you all wake up and fight for a good country rather than all this constant rubbish talk which is phuking getting on my Goats.

I have said it unashamedly, Nigerians are politically lazy and weak. We should stop all this unecessary condenming of others and get involved.

A decent development. I hope they are successful.

It is hard and painful to admit; if you completely understand Nigeria, Nigerians and our system, you will understand why Buhari among other thieves is the ONLY, I repeat, the ONLY candidate that will work very hard and restore things back to normal in Nigeria.
Reasons:
We need a leader with iron hands (Nigerians are simply unlawful group of people).
We need a leader that is simple and unselfish.
We need a leader that has experience and can not be intimidated by anyone.
We need a leader that has a military experience.
We need a leader that can represent Nigeria effectively and efficiently all around the world.

Our problem in Nigeria is simple, but folks (leaders) are too selfish and also have no balls to identify this problem and correct it.
If you're willing to neglect sentiment and be honest, Buhari is the right entity @ this time for the presidential position in Nigeria. Anything else will be the same old story and a complete waste of our time

@Gbawe,

My brother I don tire. We are never satisfied as a people. What has Ribadu done wrong for people to start slating him. I am sick and tired of all these arm-chair politicians that see nothing good in others.

If the ACN and CPC and others need to come together to beat PDP, then I am all for it. I have nothing but admiration for those who have chosen to work for the better good of our country, you and I understand how difficult the political scene is in Nigeria

I am sorry to say, but any ticked is doomed to fail if they have another South-West candidate on the slot. It wont win. Not in this particular climate. People will scream, South-West had their chance with Obasanjo. I do not see Northerners, South-South or the South-East going with a South-West candidate.

^^ Why wont Northerners go with it, When arguably the biggest and most respected politician in Northern Nigeria is the presidential candidate.

Most South South would go with GEJ if he gets nominated by PDP, So no need to waste resources on SS. GEJ has the South South almost on a lockdown, 80% of SS states are controlled fully by PDP why would another party want to waste their time in battling for the state. Its like Democrats spending money trying to beat George Bush dynasty in Texas

sochan:

@Gbawe,

My brother I don tire. We are never satisfied as a people. What has Ribadu done wrong for people to start slating him. I am sick and tired of all these arm-chair politicians that see nothing good in others.

If the ACN and CPC and others need to come together to beat PDP, then I am all for it. I have nothing but admiration for those who have chosen to work for the better good of our country, you and I understand how difficult the political scene is in Nigeria

Man mi , do not let it bother you. Some Nigerians are very wicked . Easily as wicked as the Politicians they malign daily. Add to that the consideration of how some folks are forever condemned to seeing things through an ethnic prism and you will understand the uphill battle the good guys in our politics face . Many who claimed to admire Ribadu and his brave efforts now speak about him so ungraciously that you begin to realise that those folks never had enduring integrity to start with anyway . If Buhari does emerge the candidate of the CPC and ACN merger then I would think he stands a good chance of becoming President next year because Atiku and Jonathan are very poor candidates who , along with the serious disenchantment against the ruling Party, will make it easier for Nigerians to vote against the PDP. I pasted a link , on Nairaland, to the PDP website that showed how 70% of Nigerians , in an online poll, believe that the PDP is not the Party to take Nigeria forward. Within minutes of me revealing this link the PDP yanked the poll from its website  

Folks can say what they want. If the PDP does not win then Nigeria has won because no Government can be as wicked as a PDP Government under the control of folks like OBJ, Anenih, et al who only know how to present the worst tools in the box while they continue to feed fat and look good by virtue of the cluelessness of those they have imposed on us. Under any Government other than the PDP , there will be a place for achievers like Duke, Ribadu, El Rufai, Okonjo-Iweala, etc because our situation is now so bad that we cannot afford to sideline those who can make a difference.

sochan:

same old rubbish that plagues us as a people. Una see am. So Ribadu is potentially on his way out, and people are on here saying he was never a credible candidate in the first place, the usal crap about how he cant win. These are probably the same people that talk down Pat Utomi's chances, But most importantly these are the same folk that do nothing about getting Nigeria out of her current woes. They are damn lazy arm-chair politicians, see nothing good in others, quick very quick to dismiss those who have ventured to dream. Why dont you all wake up and fight for a good country rather than all this constant rubbish talk which is phuking getting on my Goats.

I have said it unashamedly, Nigerians are politically lazy and weak. We should stop all this unecessary condenming of others and get involved.

lol, you never know these people. They can govern Nigeria from their homes, they will sit on their laptops/desktop and know who is good and bad, who is capable and who is a mediocre, but they can never ever, i mean never ever do anything to salvage the situation

dayokanu:

^^ Why wont Northerners go with it, When arguably the biggest and most respected politician in Northern Nigeria is the presidential candidate.

Most South South would go with GEJ if he gets nominated by PDP, So no need to waste resources on SS. GEJ has the South South almost on a lockdown, 80% of SS states are controlled fully by PDP why would another party want to waste their time in battling for the state. Its like Democrats spending money trying to beat George Bush dynasty in Texas

Buhari would have to be on top of the ticket for them to even consider voting for that ticket. Most northerners vote for the person who has the Sultan of Sokoto's blessing. You can't just pick any northerner. They have to be vetted by the Sultan and the Northern emirs. That is how things work in Northern Nigeria.

And do not think that the South-South are lemmings. The South-South is very diverse and some people may not want to vote for an Ijaw man. When people mention South-South, you have to remember that it is not only Ijaw. You have Itsekiri, Isoko, Urhobo, Ukwuani-Ika-Anioma-Ikwerre (Igbo), Ogoni, Annang/Efik/Ibibio, and a host of other Cross River minorities.

Plus, you cannot forget the South-East. Anyone who forgets the South-East does so at their own peril. Finally, you cannot forget the Middle Belt either.

Ochi_Agha:

I am sorry to say, but any ticked is doomed to fail if they have another South-West candidate on the slot. It wont win. Not in this particular climate. People will scream, South-West had their chance with Obasanjo. I do not see Northerners, South-South or the South-East going with a South-West candidate.

I think the ACN is too clever to go with a Yoruba candidate for VP and a weak one , not known outside the SW region, for that manner in Adebayo . They went for Atiku and Senator Obi , as President and VP , in 2007 at a time when their chance is not anywhere near as bright as it is now. I still think Chris Ngige , who has been ACN  for a while , will be considered strongly. He messed up with the Chris Uba godfather "pound of flesh" episode but most still see him as a progressive politician who is on the side of average Nigerians .

Ochi_Agha:

Buhari would have to be on top of the ticket for them to even consider voting for that ticket. Most northerners vote for the person who has the Sultan of Sokoto's blessing. You can't just pick any northerner. They have to be vetted by the Sultan and the Northern emirs. That is how things work in Northern Nigeria.

And do not think that the South-South are lemmings. The South-South is very diverse and some people may not want to vote for an Ijaw man. When people mention South-South, you have to remember that it is not only Ijaw. You have Itsekiri, Isoko, Urhobo, Ukwuani-Ika-Anioma-Ikwerre (Igbo), Ogoni, Annang/Efik/Ibibio, and a host of other Cross River minorities.

Plus, you cannot forget the South-East. Anyone who forgets the South-East does so at their own peril. Finally, you cannot forget the Middle Belt either.

Buhari is not just ANY NORTHERNER, He is arguably the most respected Northern Politician left.

Minus the PDP rigging machinery, I dare say ANPP would rule the majority of Northern states.

I can tell you how Bauchi youths rallied behind the ANPP even despite Muazu being in the PDP, We saw how Kano people booted out the PDP also.

The ANPP goodwill in the North is due largely to Buhari who is very popular among the lower class.

There are 2 slots and 1 is going to the North in Buhari as VP, The VP is the contentious one and knowing the dynamics of Nigeria its only between the SW, SE and SS.

Which SE candidate can guarantee delivering his state for the alliance? Which SS politician can guarantee delivering his state for the Alliance.

If the ACN is in the alliance, then we can say almost all 6 SW states are guaranteed to be won even Gbenga Daniels GEJ's coordinator in the SW would struggle to win his state for PDP.

Its a political game and I am all for everything that gets the PDP out of power even if its Accord party or DPN

dayakanu, You cannot have two Muslims on the ballot. People in Nigeria would start a riot if that happens. Nor can you have a Yoruba on the ballot. Any party who wants to be taken seriously in this election has to have ONE Muslim and ONE Christian, and the people on the ticket must be One Northerner, and One person from either the South-East or South-South. That is a fact. Northerners will not vote for another Yoruba for a while. Many are still angry at Obasanjo for the Yar'Adua fiasco. That is why the VP has to be from an Eastern group.

Many Northerners know that Buhari is the presidential candidate and he is the number 1 on the ticket.

So why wont a Northerner vote when one of their own is Number 1 on the ticket.

Which SE/SS candidate can deliver his state for the Alliance