Atiku wants northern consensus slot, his camp says he has best democratic credentials

Details: Category: Politics; Published on Monday, 20 September 2010 08:32; Written by Admin; Hits: 1085

THE camp of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has begun moves aimed at emerging as the consensus candidate of the North, in view of the working agreement reached with other leading contenders in the region.

atiku Sources close to the former vice-president confirmed that with Abubakar’s credentials, he should not have any problem emerging the consensus candidate.

The source said that Atiku’s loyalists were already selling his candidature to members of the technical committee set up to examine the possibility of the North fielding a consensus candidate.

The source said that one of the selling points for Atiku was his antecedent as a true democrat.

“If the antecedents of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar were factors to be considered in his bid to run for the president of this country in 2007, he stands a better chance of getting the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” the source said, adding that the former vice-president contributed immensely to the deal that frustrated the third term bid of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“He mobilised Nigerians to move against the third term agenda. His efforts yielded fruits as the proposed constitution amendment was dropped. If it was approved, it could have given legal backing to elongation of tenure of the president.”

The source said that another democratic credential of Atiku being flaunted before the strategic committee was his decision to jettison his bid to run for president in the 2003 election.

“It made it easier for President Obasanjo to get the ticket of the party for a second term in office, if he had insisted on running, it was dicey if Obasanjo would get the party ticket, because at that time, he was very popular among the state governors and they would have mobilised the highest number of delegates to the party primaries.”

Atiku is also being projected as a believer in due process and the rule of law demonstrated through his decision to seek legal interpretation of issues whenever there are challenges.

“The fact that he had been in the presidential race since 1992 has enabled him to build relationships across the country, making him to have friends and supporters across the geo-political zones. These people are always available to render a helping hand and this could be a plus to his presidential campaign anyday,” the source said.