₦airaland Forum

Statement from Atiku Abubakar, Turaki Adamawa

I heartily congratulate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari for emerging victorious in this keenly contested presidential primary election of our great Party, the APC. You ran a spirited campaign, and since the delegates have spoken, you fully deserve the victory.
I am very confident that you will provide the needed leadership to turn this country around. I have no doubt that you will work with dedicated and qualified Nigerians to protect our citizens, improve our economy, create jobs, improve education, reform governance and fight corruption. You will indeed bring the change Nigerians have been yearning for. Once more, congratulations.
I congratulate the other contestants, namely Governors Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Rochas Okorocha as well as the erudite Sam Nda-Isiah. You have all demonstrated your commitment to democracy by participating in this transparent process and by campaigning vigorously across this country.
I thank our delegates for their sacrifices and their commitment to democracy. In particular, I thank those who voted for me for your faith in me. However, since we came up short, have to now rally behind General Buhari to help him prevail in the coming Presidential election.
The APC has demonstrated, through the transparent process, the Party’s commitment to democracy and rule of law. It has demonstrated its respect for people and their choice through the ballot box.
I sincerely thank the Convention Committee for putting together a hitch-free convention.
My dear friends, we have voted, a winner has emerged. I pledge my commitment to this Party, and to campaign vigorously for our candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and all APC candidates to ensure victory in the 2015 elections.
I call on all other contestants and our party’s rank and file to unite behind our candidates at all levels to ensure that the PDP is defeated, so Nigerians can have real change.
Long live APC!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Thank you all and God bless!

http://atiku.org/2015/news_events/congratulations-general-muhammadu-buhari/

APC Primaries: Atiku Congratulates Adamawa, Other Candidates, Pledges Total Support

The leading presidential aspirant of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar has congratulated all aspirants who took part in the party's governorship primaries nationwide and in particular Adamawa State.

Specifically, the former Vice President felicitates with the winner of the primary election, Senator Muhammed Jubrilla Bindow for his hard work and determination.

He urges him not to relent in his efforts but to mobilize and rally round other aspirants who are members of the party to ensure that come 2015, the APC in Adamawa State will win the state governorship election.

The Turaki Adamawa commended the state branch of the party for organizing rancour-free and transparent primaries and congratulated all the aspirants for their good conduct before and after the primaries.

Atiku advised all the aspirants to see the outcome of the election as a victory for the party and not a particular individual, as the party and its interest is bigger than any person or group of persons.

The Turaki Adamawa pledged to give total support to the party to ensure that it produces the Governor of the state at the general elections come 2015.

He admonished the party leadership in the state and all the party members to maintain unity and peace to ensure that the party remains strong and attractive to win the support of the people of the state.


Signed:

Atiku Media Office
61 Ebitu Ukiwe Street
Jabi
Abuja
Nigeria.

The APC screening in pictures ...Enjoy

H.E Atiku Abubakar had, yesterday evening cancelled his 68th birthday celebration dinner, in reaction to the Kano Bomb Blast.

Atiku stated that he could not in good conscience continue with the celebration when the national mood is that of mourning.

According to Atiku, "There will be many more years to celebrate birthdays, but tonight is a very sad and sober one for Nigeria. It's best we just pray at home. I would appeal to all who are able, to send donations in cash and kind to the victims of the bomb blast and Internally Displaced Persons in the North East."

After Christian and Muslim prayers were said for the victims of the bomb blast and terror attacks, Atiku left the venue. The event become a prayer session for victims of terror and safety of the country at large.

Kano bomb blasts: My heart bleeds - Atiku

*Condemns Kontagora, Maiduguri bomb blasts

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the latest bomb blasts at the Kano Central Mosque on Friday, November 28, 2014.

The former Vice President also condemned previous bomb blasts in Kontagora (Niger) and Maiduguri, capital of Borno.

In a statement in Abuja by his media office, the former Vice President said he was devastated personally by the frequency and brutality of terrorist attacks on innocent people, adding that this ceaseless violence achieves nothing.

According to him, the attacks on mosques, churches, schools, bus stations, markets, shopping plazas and other heavy human targets, defy the teachings of all known religions of the world.

The former Vice President said his heart always bleeds at this senseless violence, adding that it was high time the Boko Haram terrorists abandoned violence and embraced peace once and for all.

While calling on Nigerians to be more vigilant and share human intelligence, he at the same time called on the country's security forces to be ahead of the terrorists with better strategies.

While acknowledging that terrorism is a relatively new security challenge, he said more efforts are needed to improve detection of terrorists before they reach their targets.

He called for rigorous public education to help ordinary Nigerians identify suicide bombers before they reach their intended targets.

He regretted that many ordinary Nigerians behave indifferently in the presence of terrorists because they lack trained eyes to detect terrorists.

The former Vice President, while commending the sacrifices of our security forces, called for faster and more rigorous response to terrorist threats. He explained that the ease with which terrorists break through security checkpoints.

He expressed his condolences to the people and government of Kano State, Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the Kano Emirate and the families of all those who may have been killed in the heinous attacks in Kano, Kontagora and Maiduguri.

Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar has said he will be collecting a salary of N1 per annum if elected President.
In his own words,

"It is also about time to consider realistic opportunities to reduce the cost of governance. Reducing the cost of governance requires sacrifice. This is why I'm committed to an annual salary of N1 only if elected president. These difficult economic times will require everyone to make sacrifices. This is why I'm making the first step of taking a pay cut."

CBN’s desperate measures – Nigerians should not face desperate times

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria rose from its meeting of 25th November, 2014 to announce a string of measures ostensibly to reduce pressure on the Naira and achieve macroeconomic stability. The Committee considered vulnerabilities in the domestic as well as the exposure to changes in the global economies.

In the communiqué issued by the Committee, it claimed that “the domestic economy is strong and resilient in the face of strong global head winds”. The Bank also projected a 7 per cent overall growth of the economy in 2014, a figure better than the 5.5% recorded in 2013. The committee equally noted that “the robust expansion in domestic output in the third quarter of 2014 against tepid growth in the global economy was anchored by the improved performance in services, agriculture, trade and industry”.

These are contradictions that are not consistent with the prevailing realities on ground and neither can this be the true premise for justify the drastic panic measures being taken.

The Committee claimed that a total of 600,000 jobs were created in the second and third quarters of 2014 and that most of these jobs were created in the informal sector. In reality, most of these jobs are mere hand-outs based on fanciful schemes with attractive acronyms. They add very little to the National Productivity Index and have been designed for cosmetic political intentions.

The claim by the CBN that under the 200Million Naira Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, 166,790 jobs have been created since 2009 is despicable. This amounts to creating 33,000 thousand jobs per year at the cost of 1.2Million Naira per each creation. This is probably the most expensive way of creating jobs in Agriculture anywhere in the world.

The point that I am trying to make is that the mangers of our economy should be sincere with themselves and be sincere with Nigerians. Hiding under the umbrella of international economic development trend to justify our current predicament is misleading and deceitful.

The economy is not as strong as they make us believe and the “global head winds” cannot fully explain our dilemma. Key vulnerabilities in the economy have been noticed a long time ago.
Months ago, I warned that that the economy was headed for hard times if changes were not made immediately. My position was informed by a number of reasons which I observed at that time namely:

- Uncontrolled spending and lack of discipline in budgetary implementation both of which propelled the nation into foreign and domestic debt portfolios

- Foreign debt ($3.9 billion in 2007 to $9.3 billion now)

- Domestic borrowing (now N8.9 trillion)

- Rapid depletion of our external reserves at a height of $68 billion under Yar’Adua in 2008 to as low as $36.75 billion at the end of October 2014

- Misapplication of the excess crude account which stood at $22 billion in 2008 but now as low as $470m with nothing much to show for it in terms of investment with recoverable revenues

- Sluggish effort at diversifying into other non-oil sectors of the Nigerian economy with the attendant exposure to the vagaries of global economy

- The unacceptable cost of governance in which a disproportionate percentage of the budget is being allocated to recurrent expenditures.

I warned that the trend will leave our economy undiversified and make us sleep-walk into austerity.

Nigeria used to have in 2008, a Foreign Exchange Import Cover of up to 24 months but now have less than 7 months cover despite experiencing nearly six years of oil boom. This administration has been engaged in frivolous spending, careless borrowing and poor savings. This extravagance and inability to put enough away to absorb and cushion potential shocks in global oil price fluctuations shows a high level of negligence and lack of vision.

Excessive government borrowing and higher bond repayment prices with higher interest rates have also significantly contributed to the present problem.

It is also alarming that the committee admitted in the Communiqué that the depletion of the foreign exchange “does not seem to have any bearing on the genuine foreign exchange need of the country”.

This is probably the most sincere admission of the Bank to its incapacity to discharge a critical aspect of its mandate.

The Bank needs to fine-tune its policies such that while targeting currency speculators on the one hand, we can boost investors’ confidence on the other to forestall dreadful capital flight.

Most importantly, we need to deliberately intervene for SMEs whose operations require Foreign Expenditure so as to ensure that people can keep their jobs. We cannot afford to worsen the already bad unemployment rate. There is need to suspend all non-essential business regulations that will hamper the growth and sustenance of small businesses until such time that the ECA reaches a certain threshold.

Unfortunately, there has been poor disclosure of true state of the country’s finances. This has made it difficult for anybody with good intention to diagnose and prescribe corrective measures. This has also led to constant mistrust and constant squabbles between the Federal government and the states at FAAC meetings resulting from haphazard and arbitrary allocation of funds to states.

.....

Read full text here - http://atiku.org/2015/news_events/cbns-desperate-measures-nigerians-should-not-face-desperate-times/

As President of the American University of Nigeria, I have been asked for my reflections on the occasion of the birthday of our university’s founder and benefactor, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar.

I know I speak for the entire University community when I say that our Founder’s generosity–which I daily experience first hand–has been astonishing and truly humbling.

I am, therefore, very happy to have been given this opportunity to express our gratitude for all that he has done for AUN, for education in Nigeria, and even the rest of the world.

However, I have a problem. How do you begin to thank someone whose generosity has reached such truly epic proportions, proportions quite without precedent or parallel in Nigerian history?

How do you thank someone who, beginning with the distinguished ABTI (now AUN) Academy, has created the finest educational endeavor—from pre-school to the doctoral level—in all of Nigeria?

How do you thank someone who has financed the building of the entire AUN infrastructure? From power plants to student hostels, from computers to desks to security guard uniforms, from roads and classrooms to the greatest assembly hall in northern Nigeria, all were made possible by his largess. Just this fall, we finished the construction of our revolutionary new e-library, in a wonderful and elegant new building. That library has won international awards and global recognition. He built this award winning library.

How do you thank someone who has gone on to underwrite major scholarship aid for countless talented Nigerian students who would otherwise have lacked the means to attend the American University of Nigeria? Growing up a poor orphan himself in the Yola area, he has never forgotten those in need, nor the road out of poverty that education provided him.

One of the most influential educational experiences of his youth came from American Peace Corps teaching volunteers, young men who taught the boy Atiku to think for himself, and to believe in himself. The former Vice President of Nigeria, His Excellency is now paving the road out of poverty for other deserving young Nigerians, employing the same American pedagogy that helped to transform his life, and his future. AUN is the only American-style university south of the Sahara, and in only ten short years has established itself as one of the most important universities in West Africa.

Nor has his generosity been limited to the support of the schools and university that he himself has founded.

He has personally provided scholarships to thousands of young Nigerians, scholarships to fund their study both in Nigeria and abroad. He has built hundreds of schools throughout the country. He has even funded a Professorial Chair in African History at Oxford University, extending his educational philanthropy to the United Kingdom!

His exemplary record of public service and private philanthropy lead the American National Peace Corps Association to award him the Harris Woffard Award in 2012. The citation read in part: “No private businessman in Africa has worked harder for democracy or contributed more to higher education than Atiku Abubakar.”

On a more personal note, let me confess that I have often urged him to take greater public credit for his generosity. As a university president, I know that, in general, the way one rewards major donors is to provide “naming opportunities.” Donors like to see their names in prominent places, usually on sports facilities and other large buildings. Not His Excellency.

No, he said. Do not name the new Commencement hall in my honor. No, he said. Do not name the new Library in my honor.

But there was one project particularly close to his heart. On this one he relented. Since its inception, our Founder had envisioned AUN to be not only an American-style university (and one with world-class standards and expectations) but also to be something quite new. It was to be Africa’s first “Development University.” It would have as its singular mission the fostering and supporting of research, teaching, and practice in how to bring sustainable development to the peoples of Africa; economic development, political development, educational development.

AUN would be fully involved in its community and its nation, not only training its students in information technology, public health, entrepreneurial skills, petroleum chemistry and the like, but sending those students out to learn first hand about their society and its problems and potential. They would learn about its environmental challenges, about its illiteracy, and the barriers to economic progress. But perhaps most importantly, they would learn about Nigeria’s people, so eager for a better life and the opportunity to build it for themselves and for their children.

Our various development efforts in peace-making, teaching, environmental restoration and poverty eradication have now been brought together in one place, located in the gleaming new Robert A. Pastor Library and e-Learning Center. And that Center now, with his permission, bears our founder’s name.

It is the “Atiku Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Development.”

Thus it is with boundless appreciation, respect and great affection–on behalf of everyone at the American University of Nigeria and the Atiku Center–that I send His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, our founder and patron, our very best wishes and prayers on the occasion of his birthday.

Read full article here: http://www.opinions.ng/tribute-to-atiku-abubakar/

Dr Mrs Jennifer Jemila Abubakar was called to Bar in Abuja yesterday and His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, (GCON) Former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was there to support her. Incidentally, yesterday was his birthday as well.

We congratulate the newest Barrister in town and wish his Excellency many more years!

If you don’t obtain the ticket, will you be willing to throw your support behind any APC presidential candidate?

I think I have proved that I am a pragmatic politician. Recall that in 2010 when I failed to get the PDP ticket against President Jonathan, I and others went to try to bring about an electoral alliance between the CPC and ACN. And even when Buhari eventually disappointed a group of us, myself, General Babangida, General Aliyu Gusau and Mallam Adamu Ciroma, I still went out of my way to support Buhari even in CPC. So for me it is not a big deal. I think I’m a pragmatic politician and I don’t know of others. What I know is that we have an understanding to support one another. I don’t know of the rest, but I can say of myself, I can support anyone that emerges.

Some analysts believe Jonathan holds the advantage going into the 2015 elections, going by the number of states controlled by the PDP, the incumbency factor and the teething problems APC is battling with. Do you agree?

I disagree. If all institutions operate and stay with their mandate, incumbency becomes irrelevant. If the institutions are misguided, the courts are there for restitution. But on the field, the APC has the momentum and Nigerians are yearning for a change and they are willing to defend their votes as demonstrated by the election in Osun State. We count on your constituency the press, the civil society and our development partners to contribute their quota in ensuring that the voice and the votes of Nigerians count in the 2015 election. That done, the victory of APC is assured.
What wrong impression do people have about you that you would love to correct if only you could?
It would definitely be the perception that I corruptly enriched myself during my tenure as Vice President. This is especially because I'm the most investigated politician in Nigeria's history. At the height of my rift with my former boss, several investigations were ordered against me, yet none came up with anything. Long before politics, I was a successful businessman. I first declared my assets in 1993, I was a multimillionaire in dollars. My company, NICOTES was already the top oil services company in Nigeria far back as then. I was not a poor person because I worked hard and took risks. I had enough money to buy as many pairs of shoes as I wanted. In 1998, I helped register the PDP. I spent over N500m getting the party sorted out. I rented the party secretariat and later bought it for the party. I was already a co-founder of one of the most profitable companies in Nigeria in 1999. I was never accused of corruption before my disagreement with my boss.
I remember when the American Congressman Jefferson came to meet me about a fibre project he was promoting on behalf of US companies. I sent it to my technical people, who told me it wasn't feasible. I told him so and he left. When I travelled to the US later in the year, he came with a lady to meet with me. He later asked the lady to leave, upon which he presented the same file he brought to Abuja. I quickly told him "look, this thing will not work". He left. Unknown to me, he had collected money from people and said he will 'persuade' me to approve contracts in Nigeria. He had collected about $100,000 from people. When the FBI arrested him, He was charged for fraud and Conspiracy to bribe a foreign official. They searched his house and found $90,000 in his fridge. He had spent $10,000 out of it. He was found guilty of fraud and jailed. The Charge of bribery was dropped because he was found to have lied about that. Yet, I hear people link my name to Jefferson. It's annoying sometimes. Why would I take $10,000 bribe from anyone, when my shares in my companies were worth hundreds of millions of dollars?
The then DG of BPE, Nasir El-Rufai went under oath at the National Assembly to testify that I had never made any requests or acquired anything during his tenure at the BPE. Yet, after my disagreements with my boss, he went and wrote a book that I was corrupt. I remember Nuhu Ribadu coming to my home to apologise because he was running for president. I asked him: "Nuhu, I forgive everyone, and I forgive you, but will you go back to the public and apologise about all the lies you told about me?" He was then concerned about his reputation. Of course I was wondering if he had cared about my own reputation when he was bearing false witness against me and illegally locking my friends up trying to force them to generate evidence of corruption against me.
Some people said that I am wanted in the US. I am glad that United States of America is an open society. They keep records and sometimes keep them too well. The list of every person currently banned from the United States is online. It is called the DSN LIST. But I'm glad I did right for my country. I effectively midwifed the birth of EFCC. That was my contribution to helping improve transparency in Nigeria. However, EFCC was bastardised and was used as a tool of persecution and maligning political opponents. This is why I am proposing major changes in the structure of anti-corruption agencies in my policy document.

How did people come to term you as corrupt then?

Honestly I also think people are not being fair to us, particularly when I was in office when they started labeling me as corrupt. Why is it that in the first four years nobody labelled me as corrupt? It was only when I started having disagreement with my boss (Obasanjo) that the issue of corruption came. And when the issue of corruption came, of all the investigative panels when was it that I was indicted by the panels? So, it has a political undertone. It is always easy to malign people. There was nothing that we have not explained to the best of our ability in this country, whether in the print media or electronic media. People have hung on to it because they believe they can use it to my disadvantage. Particularly, there are people who believe that maybe if I get there I won’t forgive them for using all these things against me. You can’t sit down to start dealing with personal issues when you have grave national issues to deal with if you find yourself in government. Of course, there may be small minds, but I don’t have such kind of mind to take on people personally or individually because of the fact that I was accused at one time or the other.

One of your supporters, in trying to defend you, said you were vice president for eight years and Obasanjo was petroleum minister for six to seven years and the VP does not have the power to approve contracts or control money.

I can tell you better about this argument. In fact, I am very angry. Not only that we had no minister of petroleum in six or seven years, but the oil and gas sector is the important revenue earner for this country for decades now. I don’t know what happened in other governments before us, but in our government the oil and gas sector was never transparent. Every contract was brought to council of ministers for deliberation and approval, but not anything from the oil and gas sector. The president was the minister of oil, so it was between him and the group managing director of NNPC. No minister will ever tell you he knows anything about oil and gas. And the same thing is happening today. Yes, there is a minister of petroleum but they don’t bring anything to the council of ministers on oil and gas. There is absolutely no transparency. And this is something I have vowed to correct. There is no way you can have the most important aspect of your economy and it is shrouded in secrecy. Complete and total secrecy. Nobody knows what contract is given to whom. Nobody knows who is getting those contracts, at what price, nobody knows how much is money comes in. Honestly it is unbelievable.
So, if the minister of petroleum comes out to say this is all what I get, nobody challenges her, because nobody has any other evidence to challenge her. Maybe Nigerians don’t know this is a sector that there is no transparency. We attempted to do it once before. We called for tenders. After that first exercise, subsequent exercises nobody knew who was lifting crude and at what price and what came and what did not. The only thing during budget time they will tell you this is what is earned. How it is earned, you did not know. So there is still complete secrecy in that sector. There is no transparency at all. Nothing will stop me from not bringing it out in the open. You know what happened after eight years, we were given memos that the president approved between himself and the group managing director of NNPC for ratification in the council. I was the only guy who raised his hand and said I want it to be recorded that I was not going to ratify it.

So the way it is structured, you are saying the VP is not in charge of money?


No. the VP is never in charge of money. Let me tell you the power of the VP. When we came in, we said the power of the minister to give contracts was N50 million, that is also applicable to VP; even if you are giving contracts in your own office... because that is the only place you can give contracts. And most ministers if there is half a billion contract, they break it into N50 million in many places and make sure it does not come to council. As a vice-president you only do so within your own small office. The issue of me giving contracts is not there. The second part of my tenure as vice-president I was using my own money to run my office because the president removed all the money from my office, even money to buy paper. Until I finished and left I was using my own money to run my office. As VP you don’t have that capital vote like ministers. So, there is no point of giving contracts to myself. The point is I came into government wealthy, and people say how did I get my money, but they forgot when I was paying for everything, paying for the secretariat, the printing of membership cards because we were just forming the party, and nobody was bringing money on the table. I was using my own money.

There is this belief among a section of the public that you are not free to enter the United States on the basis of a perception of corruption. We are wondering: when last did you visit the US?

The last I visited the US was after I left office. And when I went to see my family there, and from that visit my family relocated from the US. I was to visit the US last year, because I had the visa to go. I was on my way, and then they said I had a wrong visa because I was given a diplomatic visa instead of a normal visa. And that I should come and exchange the diplomatic visa with a normal visa. Unfortunately, the time was very much against me, because the way I planned it, because I was to go to the US just over night and then after attending the function there make a u-turn to Spain because I had another programme in Spain. So I decided to forgo the US event, and flew straight to Spain. If somebody says I cannot go to US, everything about the US is public. There is a site you can access and see those that are banned from visiting the US are. My name is not there. You can access the site and see whether my name is there. Of course I was going to visit my family before, but they are no longer located there. They relocated first of all to the UAE where she took up a professorship at the American University there, then later UK and then later here. She just passed her bar exams. In fact, they live here.

We understand you are very angry with America because of the search of your house...

That is a long case. It was not my house. It was my wife’s house. So diplomatically, you cannot say it was covered under diplomatic immunity. So the fact that I was staying with my wife who is also an American does not exempt our house being searched if there were grounds for that. And I believe they went to the courts to obtain the necessary documents. I don’t think they would have breached any diplomatic protocol to have searched the house. I am not angry. What for? What did they discover anyway? Nothing. They thought they were going to find huge sums of money Jefferson collected from the lady. They didn’t find the money there. Eventually they found the money in his own house, in his own fridge. In fact, I think there is too much politics in it. Jefferson faced several charges. Of all the charges, the only one he was discharged and acquitted was bribing a foreign national. That was relating to me. That was the only charge he was discharged and acquitted. All the other charges he was convicted. I see it more as political blackmail rather than actually based on facts.

Source: http://www.thecable.ng/atiku-step-buhari-well

IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THECABLE TEAM COMPRISING SIMON KOLAWOLE, ‘FISAYO SOYOMBO AND FREDRICK NWABUFO, FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT ATIKU ABUBAKAR SPEAKS ON HIS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION, HIS PLANS AND THE CORRUPTION PERCEPTION OF HIM

You are regarded by some as the most prepared presidential candidate Nigeria currently has. From the first time you tried in 1993 till date, what has changed in the Nigerian condition?

The world has become a smaller village because of technology. National economies have become integrated into the global economy. Socially and politically, governance in Nigeria has become more complex. There had been a drastic adjustment in the values and expectations of citizens in respect of what they want from their government. People have become more conscious of their rights and their insistence on service delivery is becoming more loud. Those things have changed. The challenges of security have become more daunting. The search for good leadership has, however, not changed. Democratic values have diminished. The electoral process has become more expensive because of the involvement of agencies whose personnel see an election as an opportunity to corruptly enrich themselves. Politics itself has become more expensive because of advancement in technology.

How will you tackle power supply, compared to what President Goodluck Jonathan is doing now?

I will diversify the energy mix by incorporating clean coal technology in the generation of small and medium Power plants and build captive power stations. I will develop the mini-hydro stations that are located across the nation. I will implement faithfully and with commitment the Gas to Power Master Plan drawn up in 2005 which emphasises the need for a secure and predictable gas supply to be made available to private investors in power generation. I will address the challenges confronting the power distribution companies and privatise the transmission system. I will make the power sector move investor-friendly by creating incentives. I will train a large number of technicians and engineers.

Is generating power from coal a viable option?

It is an option because technology has now brought a process where you can even clean the coal. That is why they call it clean coal. Over 90% of South Africa’s power comes from coal. The only thing is they are trying to clean the coal because there is a technology now that cleans it. So I don’t see anything wrong. For instance, the south-east could entirely depend on the coal deposit in Enugu and Abakaliki to generate their electricity. So also parts of the north-central, because the coal deposits in Kogi state are so substantial that you could use them and provide enough power for the north-central zone together with its hydro potential. They have small dams in Nasarawa, another one in Plateau. The Plateau one has been in existence. So what we need to do is to expand it because it supplies power to the whole of Plateau and you can extend it to other states. So there is potential for doing that. Not that we have not started... we commissioned international consultants to do that and they really gave us a good mix, and if we had gone by that mix in 2005 we would have attained sufficiency in power generation in the country, but unfortunately we abandoned that and went for gas, which is going to take a very long time.

Insecurity is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Nigeria today. What is this government getting wrong in trying to deal with it?

Lack of political will to tackle insecurity issues holistically. A defect is in the deployment of their security resources especially personnel. There is de-professionalisation of the security agencies by exposing them to duties and environment not consistent with their discipline. Not recognising that security is development and that it is only when a nation can manage its resources to provide the citizens with what they want and need that security can be guaranteed.

Do you subscribe to this notion that a single-term tenure will resolve a lot of crises in the system?

I do not believe that there is any problem with the four-year, two-term tenure stipulated in the constitution. Constitutional crises are raised only when people want to do a two and half or third term. We should just play by the rules.

Some of us believed that you had a fantastic relationship with President Obasanjo while both of you were in power but things went sour. What exactly went wrong?

I still have a good relationship with Baba but on certain occasions we defer on matters of principle and interpretation of facts. This is not unusual for two people who respect each other and have a joint mission to provide good leadership for this nation.

What exactly transpired at the PDP Convention in 2003 when you told the BBC that you had options to run against Obasanjo or be his running mate?

Yes. In 2003, the PDP governors wanted me to run against Obasanjo and I refused and insisted that I would rather be his running mate than to run against him.

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was like a brother to you, and your decision to challenge his victory in court in 2007 did not go down well with some members of the Yar’Adua circle, to which you belong. Did you make a mistake?

No, I did not make a mistake. I decided to challenge his victory and pursue it to the logical conclusion at the supreme court so that I could legitimize that victory especially when he had publicly admitted at his swearing-in that the process of his election could have been flawed. So the decision of the supreme court that upheld his victory makes that victory and his mandate quite legitimate. The legal process also deepened democracy and enriched the legal records.

What role did you play to break the impasse caused by Yar’Adua’s absence?


I did not play any major role and could not have played any except to pray for his speedy recovery. You will recall that most people were kept in the dark at that time.

Your decision to form the Northern Consensus Candidate Group in 2010 to challenge President Jonathan for the PDP ticket appeared to be an unhidden sectional agenda which many believe led to the division of Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines which we are still battling with today.

I think that there is a lot of misinformation about the whole idea of the consensus issues. I was not being positioned as a candidate of the north but a candidate of PDP from the north. The concept of consensus was promoted to reduce political tensions within the party as a whole and those who were willing and ready to subject themselves to negotiations submitted themselves to this process. I do not believe anything was wrong with trying to reduce the number of candidates that would be presented at the PDP primaries.
The electoral support of Jonathan in the north in the 2011 election does not show any evidence that the event of 2010 had created any division, ethnic or religious. You will agree that Nigeria’s division along ethnic and religious lines had been actively promoted in the last few years by the present administration and we now have more divisions along those cleavages than ever before.

One of the things that seem to be counting against you in APC is your frequent change of parties. Do you regret returning to PDP in 2010?

No, I have no regrets. And I should not have any. I was a founding member of the PDP. At a point, the PDP leadership became insensitive to the aspirations of party members who were being denied the right to participate in the activities of the party, particularly in the elections. I was virtually kicked out of the party because of my insistence that internal democracy within the party was critical to the survival of democracy. You will recall that I have always been an advocate of a two-party system because it gives people viable choice. I also co-founded the ACN which was supposed to be an alternative to PDP and provide a choice for Nigerians. ACN was not intended to be a platform for dealings but when it turned out to be that, my supporters decided to go back to PDP. As a leader, my decisions on the choice of party affiliations are taken in response to the desires of those who look up to me for leadership. It is not about me. It is about the electoral futures of my supporters. I never changed political parties without wide consultation with my supporters and without subjecting my decisions to their desires. This is what a leader should do and should be prepared to take responsibility. For the avoidance of doubt however, the APC is my last bus stop. We now have two formidable political parties and Nigerians have a viable choice.

Your critics say you are too desperate to be president. What is your take on that?

I have been asked why I am always seeking to become the president of this country. My passion for governance is that of a man who wants to do more for this nation because there is so much more to be done in fixing Nigeria. This passion continues to grow as long as nobody is really doing the fixing. The nation has been kind to me and I need to give something back. I want to play a leading role in the trans-generational accord that will create the Nigeria we all desire and deserve. I will not give up on Nigeria.

It appears the APC ticket is just there for the picking by General Buhari. How prepared are you for the primary election?

I am really prepared for the primary because this is a game that I have participated in more than the others. In other words, I have been involved in primary election since the early 90s, and that has given me a lot of experience when it comes to primaries whether they are direct or indirect because we have participated in both types of primaries. The perception that the ticket is there for Buhari to take is a mistaken perception because Buhari has never participated in any primaries. In the three elections he contested he was simply given the tickets. He did not go through any primaries. I believe that is not going to be helpful to him in this very case. As of today, among the five of us who are going to participate in the primaries I am the only one who is running around the country. Nobody else is doing that. Nowadays delegates have become more enlightened than before. Most of them are very educated and most of them want to engage their candidates in discussions on what is it they have for them, for the electorate and for party. If they have not seen you, not to talk of interacting with you, how would they vote for you?
Secondly, this is not a party that is dominated by the influence of governors. In other words, the governors trying to force delegates to vote even against their own conscience like it happens in the PDP. This is a party that wants to bring about change. And that really wants to allow people to make choices based on their own convictions. So I have seen in a few states where we have governors; where I was very well received, and I had access to all the delegates, to talk to them, interact with them, and also to listen to all their own problems, and I like it and enjoyed it because you get to know quite a lot of things. You think you know all the problems, but when get down the bottom-line and then you begin to listen to ordinary people who live ordinary lives and you find there is a lot you learn. I think all these experiences give me confidence that I have an edge over the rest of them. I know it is not easy. It is difficult. The physical terrain, going round the country is not good particularly, in terms of the road infrastructure, very bad roads. And you fly all over. I have never seen an election period so short like this one. So, for you to be able to cover the entire country, you need to be flying, sometimes covering two or three states in a day. Thank God most of the states I have covered them. The only thing is that you cannot stay too late because when it is dark most of the airports don’t operate. Only few airports operate in the night in this country.

So we should perish the thought that you are going to withdraw for Buhari in order not to have a rancorous primary?


No, I don’t think so. The issue of withdrawal at this moment is not on the table because as candidates we have not met; let’s say the five of us. Before you talk of withdrawal, before you talk of consensus, the candidates must meet as a group. And when they meet as a group all of them must submit to a consensus process. They must also agree what is going to be the mode of the consensus process. How are we going to get a candidate to emerge? So there has to be process, there has to be willingness of all the parties. At the moment, none. We have not even met; five of us, not to talk of agreeing to a consensus option. I would like to say, perhaps, we have passed the consensus option, because this is an option that did not go through the national working committee, did not go through the NEC. So, I think if it did go through all these statutory structures then there is as very slim chance, unless out of the willingness of five us we decide to sit down and produce a process that will throw up a consensus candidate.


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