BREAKING NEWS, Politics
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Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says he remains loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress and would not do anything to harm any of them on account of personal interest
FORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has distanced himself from the crisis engulfing the ruling the All Progressives Congress, APC, saying he would not be a part of any plan to truncate the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Abubakar said that he remained loyal to Buhari.
The former vice-president said his purported link to a plan to hijack of the APC and the National Assembly in order to fulfil his presidential ambition in 2019, was a figment of the imagination of those promoting such insinuation.
In a press statement released by Paul Ibe, his media office in Abuja on Sunday, June 21, Abubakar asked Nigerians to ignore all such insinuations. He noted that the recent outcome of the National Assembly leadership election, contrary to insinuations were products of interplay of politics which was itself in constant motion. “In politics, it is a mistake to expect fixed outcomes. As the President has done, let’s all come to terms with what has happened in the interest of the system and move on. Suffice it to say that the new administration should be allowed to have a smooth take off and be allowed the atmosphere to deliver. On this, I stand with President Buhari,” he said.
According to the former vice-president, it is dangerous for any individual or group within the APC to constitute into an opposition. He made the call against the backdrop of development in the polity, which he noted were interplay of forces and dynamic interests that should not be promoted to the point of being a threat to democracy and the new administration.
He acknowledged that it was legitimate and desirable for individuals or groups to pursue their interests. He, however, noted that such should be done with the spirit of equity, fair play and justice. “Anything to the contrary may jeopardise our hard-earned democracy and constitute a clog in the wheel of the new administration,” he said.
Abubakar noted that because of the historic nature of the mandate of President Buhari and the arduous challenges ahead to deliver on making Nigeria work for all Nigerians, it was important, especially for members of the APC, to rally behind him in the quest to enthrone good governance. This, he said, would spur security and stability, economic and social development, job creation, infrastructure renewal and above all a better life for Nigerians.
The former vice-president urged members of the APC to emulate the unity of all the presidential contestants after the party’s Lagos primaries and support the president to form his government and get to work.
Abubakar also denounced the increasing determination of some people who he said were bent on drawing a wedge between President Buhari and himself. “It has become crystal clear even to the blind that the motives of these hatchet men who are desperate to take every available newspaper space are to insult and vilify the former Vice President. We cannot allow liars, denigrators and blackmailers and their sponsors to use Atiku as a platform to ingratiate themselves with President Buhari and hijack his presidency under the pretext of loving him more than anyone else. These political ventriloquists are hiding behind the cover of anonymity to achieve their sinister agenda of making Atiku the fall guy in the unfolding political developments,” he said.
— Jun 22, 2015 @ 16:20 GMT
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