Ijaw National leader and former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark yesterday berated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to All Progressives Congress, APC, saying he is a politically ambitious wanderer.
Clark, who admitted that there were a possible number of reasons why Atiku dumped the PDP for APC, was however, quick to add that the Adamawa-born politician forgot that he was a founding member of the ruling party and one time Vice President of Nigeria.
Speaking at his Asokoro Residence in Abuja when a group of Niger-Delta protesters under the aegis, Coalition of Urhobo Nation Youth Leaders and Stakeholders led by a civil rights activist, Mr. Rex Anigboro, led a protest to him over what they termed, marginalization of Urhobo people in federal appointments, Clark, who explained that Atiku leaving the PDP was uneventful, however described him as a politician desperate for the Presidency and “will go to anywhere and will do anything”.
Speaking further on the former VP’s defection, the elder statesman said, “Atiku’s defection is not an event, it is uneventful because of his ambition to become President at all times. He will go to anywhere and will do anything. He now believes that one day he will be President, even though he is telling people that he is not interested in the Presidency. That is his main aim of going to APC and you will soon see it. Atiku will soon want to contest the 2015 Presidential election.
“While he was Vice President, Atiku formed a party and contested election as a Presidential candidate. The Supreme Court allowed him to do so and he came back to PDP. The Governor of Adamawa State said he did not return to the party but came to the national Headquarters where he may have been granted certain concessions.
“So Atiku had problems with his people in his state, he has not been steady. If he was not ambitious because of Presidency and so on, the former President of this country under whom he worked as Vice President, Olusegun Obasanjo would not have tormented him and almost charging him to Court. There is nothing he didn’t do and he called him several names like thief and removed all the powers, including security, from him. The same Atiku will go to Obasanjo’s house in Otta and want to be part of the same political system.
“The five Governors who who were championing against the PDP, Mr. President and the (former) national chairman of the party were all boys of Obasanjo. Everybody knows that there was no way they were going to allow Atiku to be President of this country because Obasanjo will not allow it. But now, he has gone to APC and very soon you will know what will happen.
“His going to APC is uneventful and nobody cares about it. He has been moving from party to party. He formed PDP; he cannot deny to Nigerians that he didn’t form Peoples Democratic Movement as a party. He paid for it, the records are there and the evidence is there. One would have expected him not to leave PDP. Very soon, you will hear that PDM has joined APC. That is his intention, he wants to join APC and then bring PDM to join APC. So one is not worried, Nigeria is greater than any individual, no individual can hold Nigeria to ransom”.
On 2015 Presidency, Clark, who noted that every Nigerian was qualified to be President, provided they possess the competence and necessary qualification, stressed that for one to be President of Nigeria, “you must learn to serve before people will serve you and that is the position”.
Not done with his criticism of the former VP’s latest political move, Clark who noted that he never expected that Atiku would take late President Umaru Yar’Adua to Court after the 2011 election, having regard to the close relationship between late General Shehu Yar’Adua and Atiku, said, “Infact, he visited their mother when he was campaigning against Umaru Yar’Adua to show how close they were. One would have expected that after the elections, even when he claimed the elections were rigged, he should not have gone to court.
“I wrote him a personal letter which I copied to the late Yar’Adua and Yar’Adua replied me begging Atiku not to pursue his case. He didn’t hear, so when it comes to Presidency, nobody can pin down Atiku from going to anywhere.
“That is Atiku, you remember how he fought Obasanjo and both of them were accusing each other of spending money belonging to Petroleum Technology Development Fund. So people should know what they want for themselves; they should leave Nigeria alone to grow. There are so many people in this country and that is why we want national conference”.
informationnigeria
No comments:
Post a Comment