Atiku Defeated IBB by Just One Vote!

Former VP says zoning is bedrock of unity•Ekwueme committee to pick running mate•Senator Kanti Bello queries NPLF’s decision

 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar defeated Gen. Ibrahim Babangida by just one vote to emerge the consensus candidate of the Malam Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPFL) in the forthcoming Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential primary.

It has also emerged that former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme will head a five-man committee to pick a running mate for Atiku, who yesterday said zoning was the bedrock of Nigeria’s unity.

But the Deputy Director General of the Ibrahim Babangida Campaign Organi-sation, Senator Kanti Bello, has described the decision of the consensus committee to select Atiku as “incomprehensible”.
While Atiku got four of the nine votes cast by the Consen-sus Committee, Babangida got three while Governor Bukola Saraki got two.

The nominee of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Lt. Gen. Aliyu Muhammed Gusau, is said to have cast the decisive vote for Atiku, although it was not clear if he did so under instruction from Gusau who did not score any vote.
The four persons who voted for Atiku, according to THISDAY sources, were Alhaji Bello Kirfi, Alhaji MD Yusufu, Baba Yero Mafindi and Ambassador MZ Anka.

Malam Ciroma, Senator Jibrin Salihu and Alhaji Magaji Dambatta were said to have voted for Babangida. Former PDP national chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and Major-General David Jimebewon reportedly voted for Saraki.

The outcome of the exercise has surprised many, considering the fact that majority of the consensus committee members had given the impression that they would vote for Babangida.
A source, who witnessed the vote, told THISDAY yesterday that the vote of Yusufu was cast by an Atiku ally and former governor of old Kaduna State, Malam Lawal Kaita.

"MD Yusufu was not at the meeting but he instructed Kaita to vote for Atiku. There was a lot of bad blood among the wise men, especially when an argument ensued between Ciroma and Ogbe as to the method to be adopted for the voting.
"Ogbeh said the voting should be by secret ballot but Ciroma resisted. However, the intervention of the other members led to the adoption of the secret ballot system.

"Ciroma then insisted that all the members should use the same pen in marking the ballot paper and also have the ballot papers burnt after the voting. All the members agreed," the source, who declined to be named, added.

At a world press conference in Abuja yesterday, Atiku described zoning of political offices as the bedrock of the country’s unity.
He accused President Goodluck Jonathan of betraying zoning after he attended a meeting and where he voted for it.

Atiku took on Jonathan, asking rhetorically, “Why are our budgets not being implemented?  Why has the money in our Excess Crude Account disappeared at a time when oil prices have been way above the benchmark used for our budget estimates?  Why are our foreign reserves being depleted to dangerous levels leading to rating agencies downgrading our status? Why is this government quickly dragging us back to indebtedness after we worked so hard and sacrificed so much in the past to pull ourselves out of debt slavery? Clearly we need a new leadership.”

On zoning, he said: “It is the mechanism which, at this stage of our development, ensures that every segment of the country, especially minority groups, has a chance of producing the occupants of the most important offices in our country.”

According to Atiku, “We are a diverse people who recognised early in our history that national unity, fairness and equity require that we share positions of power among our diverse peoples.  That is what we call zoning/rotation of public offices.  That was why in the First Republic, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe from the South was ceremonial president, Tafawa Balewa from the North, the prime minister and other key positions went to people from various ethnic and religious groups. We maintained that tradition under military rule and through all civilian administrations. Zoning and rotation have never been perfect, but we have always recognized their importance for the peace, unity, fairness and justice in this country.

“It was against the background of alleged domination of the polity by the Northern part of the country that the founding fathers of the PDP came up with the zoning policy which has now been entrenched in our party’s constitution.  Zoning has become part of our political culture. That is how the PDP zoned the office of president to the South in 1999.  In 2002, an expanded caucus of the PDP reaffirmed the zoning of the Presidency to the South for another four years after which it would be the turn of the North for eight years.  Our current President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, was present at that expanded caucus meeting and voted in support of zoning.

“Those who were promoting this devil-may-care attitude demonstrated quite early that they would employ the power of incumbency and whatever means necessary to achieve their objective even if it means tearing this country apart.  That is what led to the search for a consensus candidate in the North, to which the PDP had zoned the presidency.  We believe that Nigeria is bigger than each of us individuals, including the incumbent president and that the unity of this country, equity and justice require that existing agreements freely entered into by individuals and groups be respected.

“This is not a North versus South thing as some dishonest people would like to frame it.  It is about honour, trust and fairness.  Our words must be our bond. We must learn to respect agreements so that the unity of this country may endure.”
A statement from the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation denounced Atiku’s claims.
It read: “The allegation by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar that President Goodluck Jonathan broke the Peoples Democratic Party agreement on zoning is not new. He and his political associates have persisted in rendering this untrue account of the evolution of the zoning policy of the party since they entered the race earlier this year. Our understanding of the issue, however, is that until August 12, 2010 when the National Executive Committee of the party approved a zoning policy, the party had none. Whatever existed before then was a whimsical arrangement among some party leaders that could not replace the provisions and guidelines laid down by the constitution of the party for decision-making and policy formulation. 

“For the avoidance of doubt, the subsisting zoning and rotation policy of the party is: where an incumbent president dies in office, his successor shall, notwithstanding his zone of origin, be entitled to the rights and privileges of the previous occupant of the office, including the right to seek re-election. This is the policy enunciated by the NEC on August 12 and the agitation of Atiku against President Jonathan’s aspiration, which is in line with this policy, is in keeping with his knack for disrespect for the authority of the party.

“Let us be clear about this: Vice-President Atiku’s endorsement by one of the numerous informal political associations in the country represents no serious challenge to the aspiration of President Jonathan because the PDP and its members are not looking for a sectional leader whose antecedent suggests he is an unreliable party man. A man who will abandon the collective simply because of a temporary setback is certainly not one to be relied upon as the party's flag bearer. This in any case is subterfuge; an exercise in futility that will lead its participants absolutely nowhere because we are confident that in January, our party men and women will separate the wheat from the chaff.”Meanwhile, Atiku has set up a five-man committee charged with the responsibility of selecting a running mate to him as the presidential candidate. 

The running mate to Atiku is expected from any of the five states of the South-east geo-political zone.The committee is headed by Ekwueme. Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, is also expected to be in the committee. THISDAY could not confirm the identities of the others.

So far, two known names are said to be contesting for the running mate slot. They are the former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, and the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo. Both were present at the press conference.

Also, former Director General of the General Aliyu Gusau Campaign Organization, Senator Ben Obi, has been tipped to emerge as the new Campaign Director-General of the unified campaign.

All the four campaign outfits of Babangida, Gusau, Saraki and Atiku have been collapsed into one.The campaign chiefs of the four groups attended the press briefing.

Meanwhile, Senator Bello has described the decision of the consensus committee to select Atiku as “incomprehensible”.
Bello, who was reacting to Atiku’s selection in an interview with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)  said: “Well let’s pray to Allah, though this choice was contrary to what is in my mind. Let’s pray it is the truth. If I had known Atiku would be their choice and he was the right candidate, I would have followed him because I am not a fool.”

Every Vote Counts

For Atiku: (1) Kirfi (2) Yusufu (3) Mafindi (4) Anka

For IBB: (1) Ciroma (2) Salihu (3) Dambatta

For Saraki: (1) Jemibewon     (2) Ogbeh