Disqualify Atiku: Activists

A pressure group, the Coalition for Political Awareness and Change, has called on the People’s Democratic Party to consider the anti-graft cases against the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, when holding the party’s screening of its presidential aspirants. The group, in a statement signed by its coordinator, Maxwell Abaji, said: “In the last few weeks, Nigerians have asked the Atiku group to respond to the issues of corruption linked to the former VP but got no answers.”

The group also called on Aminu Wali, a former permanent representative to the United Nation, to “draw from the report of the US Senate and the ongoing investigation by the United States Department of Justice over allegations of fraud and money laundering against the former vice president.”

Another group called the National Vanguard for Democracy and Development also pointed at what it said was Mr Abubakar’s “alleged inconsistency as a politician and his past comments on the same party he now seeks to fly its flag,” as a reason to disqualify him.

The national publicity secretary of the group, Emeka Obinagwu, said, “Ordinarily, we should have left what is PDP for the PDP but it is becoming clearer by the day that the decision of this panel will have great impact on the future of our country and we have therefore decided to provide an unbiased guidance.”

According to the group, Mr Abubakar had in 2006 warned Nigerians against voting PDP, having allegedly stated that “we are in a great danger of surrendering our country to a cabal of opportunists, greedy and hypocritical clique, which hides under the guise of high moral principles to debase our democratic institutions and practices.”