President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday described their screening by the Peoples Democratic Party Screening Panel as ‘rigorous and comprehensive’



The two men and the only female PDP presidential aspirant Sarah Jibril, were at the party’s headquarters in Abuja where they answered questions from the Alhaji Aminu Wali-led committee shortly after they had been cleared by the panel.



Jonathan, who spoke with journalists after he left the committee, also said there was nothing wrong with the crises trailing the conduct of the party’s primaries across the country.



He said that was expected in a party with a large following.



The President said, “The screening was very rigorous, but it went well. Concerning the primaries, whenever you have a general election across the states in a party like PDP where you have presidential, senatorial and governorship primaries, there would be some cases where you normally have disagreements and flashpoints. But on the average, the primaries went well.”



Jonathan, who was the first to appear before the committee, was accompanied to the PDP headquarters by Vice-President Namadi Sambo; and the Director-General of the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation, Senator Dalhatu Tafida.



Governors Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Timiprie Sylva (Bayelsa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Godswill Akpabio(Akwa Ibom), Ibrahim Shema (Kastina) as well as a former President of the Senate, Chief Pius Anyim, and an ex- Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, were also in his entourage.



Abubakar, who appeared immediately after the President, said the screening was ‘comprehensive.’



Unlike Jonathan, who did not mention the kind of questions that the committee asked him, the former vice-president said he was asked many questions.



Among the questions, he said, were why he returned to the PDP which he left in 2007 for the Action Congress (now Action Congress of Nigeria) and the ‘critical ’ comments he had made about the PDP in the past.



Asked if he had an idea that he could be disqualified based on the questions he was asked, Abubakar replied that the committee had no such power.



He said, “I was asked many questions. I was asked about my return to the party and the critical comments I made before.



“They (the panel members) do not have the powers to disqualify me when they are not court of law. I think the screening is a good one. It was comprehensive; but they have no power to disqualify me.”



The former vice-president was accompanied by another former President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani; ex- Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; a former Minister of Health, Prof. ABC Nwosu; and the Director-General of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, Senator Ben Obi.



Jibril, while speaking with journalists after she had presented herself for the screening, appealed to delegates to vote for a woman “who can deliver the goods.”



However, the fourth aspirant, Alhaji Sani Dutsinma, who was also at the party’s headquarters, said he decided to boycott the exercise because of the cases he instituted in court against the leadership of the party on zoning.



Before the arrival of the aspirants, security was beefed up around Zone 6, where the PDP headquarters is located.



All the roads leading to the area were cordoned off by men of the Anti-Terrorists Squad, the Bomb Disposal Unit of the Nigeria Police Force, the State Security Service, and the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps .



Before the screening ended, Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Theodore Orji, had said that Abubakar and Jubril would have a bad outing at the presidential primaries on Thursday.



The two governors, who spoke with one of our correspondents on the telephone, said with what they had seen and their discussions with their colleagues,



Jonathan would win the primaries with a wide margin.



“With what is on the ground, I can tell you that the President would win the primaries. In fact, it is going to be a walk-over. The entire delegates from the South-South are coming to Abuja to vote for him and I can assure you that the votes are coming only for him.



“Our votes are going to him not because he is from our zone, but because we believe in his ability and competence,” Amaechi said.



Orji, who is a member of the PDP Convention Committee, said, “Apart from the fact we have endorsed him individually and collectively, the Ohaneze Ndigbo has also pronounced him as our candidate.



“We would not go back on our words. Let me also tell you that with the discussion I had with my fellow governors from the North, those contesting with



the President will be shocked with the outcome of the primaries.”



Meanwhile, a combined team of soldiers and policemen on Tuesday sealed off roads leading to the Eagle Square, Abuja, venue of the PDP national convention.



They were seen on the Shehu Shagari Road by one of our correspondents diverting vehicles to other routes.



Operatives have also been deployed in strategic locations in Abuja, including the Transcorp Hilton, Sheraton Hotel and Towers and Nicon Luxury Hotel.



The three hotels and other luxury commercial accommodation facilities in the city were said to have been fully booked as at Tuesday.













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Unlike Jonathan, who did not mention the kind of questions that the committee asked him, the former vice-president said he was asked many questions.

Empty barrel makes so much sound 'cos nothing dey,
Atiku is a noise maker anytime anyday. Always ready to show off.