Atiku: Why We Revolted

•Atiku Abubakar

•Atiku Abubakar

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar responds, through email, to questions sent to him by AYORINDE OLUOKUN on why he and his faction pulled out of PDP

Why did you lead or choose to be part of those leading the rebellion against your party, the PDP?

Even slaves, if pushed to the wall, will ultimately revolt. I was one of the founding fathers of the PDP and, therefore, I had no reason to revolt if I had a choice or if the current party leadership had listened to reason or acted in good faith.

•Atiku Abubakar
•Atiku Abubakar

The current leadership of the party has destroyed every effort to correct the fundamental errors being deliberately committed. It frustrated all efforts towards genuine reconciliation and restoring the party to the path of the democratic tradition and culture. Even the recommendations of Dr. Alex Ekwueme and Gen. Ike Nwachukwu’s committees, which could have resolved the problems, were deliberately frustrated or never implemented.

It is disturbing that the party leadership destroyed the original democratic principles on which the PDP was founded. Every effort is directed at frustrating genuine reconciliation and redressing the wrongs. The party leadership is primarily preoccupied with sacrificing the party constitution and democratic principle to gratify the ambition of the President. Destroying fair participation and competition is not acceptable. It is unacceptable for the party to bend every rule and assault the sanctity of the party constitution on account of pleasing the President. The party leadership lacks the independence to assert itself and does not seem interested in doing so.

This crisis is entirely avoidable. We did everything to restore harmony and unity and work together as one family. But the party leadership is more loyal to the narrow interest of the President. If the President wants to contest, he should do so fairly and not hijack the party machinery to intimidate and frustrate anybody who disagrees with the wrong direction the party is moving.

We have exhausted all efforts to avoid the current division and factionalisation. The PDP is stronger as a united party but the party leadership doesn’t care about destroying the democratic principles on which it is founded to satisfy the ego of the President.

The walkout at the Eagle Square was not spontaneous, many suspect it was planned in advance to humiliate the President.

I don’t agree with you. We went to the Eagle Square in the belief that the election would be free and fair. The worst rigging is to manipulate the outcome of events in advance to achieve a well-orchestrated agenda. Are you not aware of how the convention committee was manipulated to make the proceedings at the event go according to their undemocratic agenda?

The people have created needless divisions and acrimony among party members and Nigerians for the sake of their desperate interests. Some state delegates even exchanged blows in public, to the embarrassment of everyone. Such was the kind of sorry spectacle the PDP leadership has created. How do you expect us to sit and watch the proceedings of events at the convention moving in ridiculous direction? Did we have a choice? We found ourselves in a situation where protesting at the venue could have led to a shouting match. Our only option was to vote with our feet.

Jonathan’s aides say the rebellion is all about 2015 and the North’s ambition to get the presidential ticket. Is that the case?

Ticket or not, if Jonathan wants to contest, he should not hijack the party machinery to achieve his ambition without subjecting himself to fair competition. Whoever wants the ticket should go through primaries along with other aspirants. It is not acceptable to give automatic ticket to anyone just like that when the fate of the party depends on his performance.

In the United States, political parties conduct presidential debates among interested contestants. Ticket must be founded on performance and be open to free and fair competition. Foisting a candidate in a despotic fashion is contrary to the dreams of the founding fathers. It is sheer blackmail to reduce everything to the presidential ambition of the North. There are fundamental issues involved which should not be swept under the carpet. Shouldn’t other aspirants be fit to contest? Is it a taboo in the PDP or Nigerian Constitution for people within the party to contest against a sitting president? Don’t reduce the issue to North versus South. It is a matter of principle.

Related News

 There is the perception that you want to weaken the PDP before you finally move to the newly registered PDM to actualise your presidential ambition. Are you still interest in the Presidency in 2015?

I am a Nigerian and I am, therefore, entitled to aspire to the nation’s highest public office. If someone is using all unfair methods to contest through intimidation, why not Atiku who wants to follow decent process? If a president’s use of unfair methods to get the ticket is not debated by Nigerians, why should Atiku’s aspiration be the issue?

Ahmed Gulak, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, has accused you of an attempt to pull down a platform that brought you to national prominence. Do you think the accusation is justified?

The accusation is ridiculous. Where was that man when we formed the PDP in 1998? I was one of the founding fathers of the party. Our PDM platform, which became part of the larger PDP, was greatly instrumental to the accession to power by former President Obasanjo in 1999. Therefore, I achieved prominence in my own right on account of my involvement with democratic struggle in Nigeria. I don’t pay attention to overzealous aides with remarkably poor political memory. I don’t blame him; he has to justify his office.

 The PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, said there is nothing like faction in the PDP and that your group is just a gang-up of impostors. Is that the case?

Tukur is playing the ostrich, pretending all is well when things are going badly. He has refused to take the initiative to do the right thing and help the PDP to grow as one family. He didn’t demonstrate the strong leadership the party needed to be the authentic voice of democracy. Rather than calling us impostors, he should blame his leadership style for putting us into this mess.

Don’t you think the action of your group is making the PDP more vulnerable?

That question should be directed to Bamanga Tukur and other members of his leadership team. They have made the PDP more vulnerable by putting us into this avoidable mess. We shouted ourselves hoarse to achieve reform, but they refused to listen because they have absolute power to make and unmake. When your own children vote with their feet, you are supposed to resign because it shows the failure of your leadership. The love of power and the sacrifice of principles for political survival is one of the tragedies of our politics.

 The chairman of your group, Alhaji Baraje, filed a court action in Lagos and this reveals a lot about the violation of the PDP Constitution by the incumbent executive of the party. But why didn’t you take up this court action until now?

We avoided court action previously to give reconciliation efforts a chance to succeed. However, now that the leadership is finally out to destroy the party and the democratic principles on which it was founded, we had to take this option because their leadership is on a weak moral and legal foundation. We tolerated them before to bring about the reconciliation but now the legal option became inevitable.

Your group insists that Jonathan should drop his 2015 presidential ambition in favour of the North as a condition for peace to return to the PDP. Are you in support of this?

Peaceful negotiation is always welcome. We headed to the court to make a point. The PDP is bigger than any individual and, therefore, if they want to rebuild the party, it must return to the original objectives for which it was founded.

Load more