By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
Ahead of the primaries of the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), one of the aspirants and the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, has vowed that he was not ready to step down for any other aspirants seeking same ticket with him.
Atiku is vying for the APC ticket alongside former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd), Kano state Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, Imo state Governor Rochas Okorocha, and publisher of Leadership newspapers, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Blueprint’s investigation revealed that APC northern leaders were already mounting pressure on some of the aspirants to step down for a particular aspirant, an attempt that hit a deadlock at their last meeting in Abuja.
But Atiku, the Turakin Adamawa, in an interview with the CNN, said the issue of withdrawal “does not arise at the moment.”
He said: “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.”
In his own view, Governor Kwankwaso had earlier told our correspondent in an interview that no aspirant would be forced to step down.
He said the party had decided to have aspirants “who are interested in building this party and make it stronger and at the end of the day, we will be able to sit down as aspirants to look at ourselves and not to force anybody to withdraw.”
“I can assure you that all of us are building this party, hoping that it can assist the party to grow stronger. I can assure you that there are people in this party who ordinarily should not have been here or would not have been in any party for that matter. But because of their conviction that I am the best under this circumstance, they are in this party. That will help build the capacity of the party to kick out PDP in 2015.”
