Posted by By Segun Olatunji and Musikilu Mojeed on
The presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party in the 2003 election, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday ruled.....
The presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party in the 2003 election, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday ruled out stepping down for Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the 2007 presidential election.
Buhari, while receiving a delegation of the Progressive Action Congress, led by its National Chairman, Chief Charles Nwodo, in Kaduna, added that he would neither drop his presidential ambition nor join forces with Abubakar's camp to enable the latter to succeed President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He added that since the fate of all presidential candidates would be decided by the electorate, it would be needless for him to dump his ambition because of another contestant.
Buhari, who admitted that there were some 'talks" between his camp and that of Abubakar, however, stressed that that should not be misconstrued as an indication that he would step down for Abubakar.
He stated that he did not see his ambition being threatened by either that of the vice-president or that of another presidential aspirant and fellow party member, Governor Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State.
Buhari who explained that the discussion between his camp and that of the vice-president was part of the efforts aimed at ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections in 2007, said he was sure of securing the presidential ticket of the ANPP.
He said, 'The question of me going to ACD or any other party and backing the vice-president does not arise. It has never arisen; we are not in the same party. We have been talking with them.
'What I know is that they are in the PDP, whichever faction of the PDP, I don't know. I'm in ANPP, we go through the processes of the party and then we are picked as the presidential candidates. Then it is Nigerians that will decide. That's why we are fighting for free and fair elections.
'I wouldn't have accepted my party's nomination in 2003 because Obasanjo was there and he's still the president. Atiku is just the vice-president. So, if I can face the incumbent president (in 2003), what about the vice-president?"
Nwodo said his party visited Buhari so as to establish a working relationship with him ahead of the 2007 elections.
Meanwhile, the vice-president on Wednesday criticised the ongoing campaign for an interim national government for the country next year.
Abubakar, in a statement by his campaign organisation in Abuja, described proponents of the plot as anti-democratic forces.
He said the campaign for an interim national government was a ploy to foist dictatorship on the country and plunge Nigeria into a crisis.
The statement by the vice-president‘s Media Consultant, Mallam Garba Shehu, described the campaign for an an interim national government as a revival of the failed third term plot, which, he said, should be resisted by all Nigerians.
The statement said, "The Atiku Campaign strongly condemns any attempt by unpatriotic individuals or organisations to plunge this country into a needless political crisis by foisting an illegal interim government on the country.
"The 1999 Constitution, which is the legal basis of our democracy, does not recognise an interim government. Therefore, promoters of such a government are unpatriotic and utterly irresponsible.
"The constitution is clear and unambiguous about the transition process from one administration to another through credible and transparent elections. The body charged with such a responsibility is the Independent National Electoral Commission.
"We can reasonably say right now that INEC has enough time and perhaps the resources to organise free and fair elections. At least, INEC has not publicly told us that it cannot hold elections. We are therefore at a loss why an interim government is desirable ostensibly because INEC cannot organise an election.
"The promoters of interim government, we are convinced, do not have the best interest of the nation at heart. They are people who take perverse delight in seeing the country in chaos. What began as a whispering campaign is now quietly gathering momentum with its promoters becoming more visible and daring.
"As usual, these people masquerade as "elder statesmen" or "concerned citizens" who are trying to save the country from an imaginary crisis of transition. Finally, we call on the National Assembly to rise up to the challenge by auditing INEC‘s preparations for the elections in 2007."