FORMER Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who recently defected from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) told The Guardian Friday the situation in the PDP has made it technically impossible for him to bring the needed change in the governance of the country.
Atiku said: “Nobody, however rich or powerful, can bring about change without being in the government and to do that, you need a platform to do so. PDP has made that option technically impossible for me. And for that reason, I chose the APC because the party’s manifesto has a lot in common with my own policy document on the reformation of Nigeria.
“Nigeria suffers from poor governance, which is why its oil wealth has not significantly improved the living standards of the ordinary Nigerians. I have found genuine commitment among the APC leaders in making Nigeria remarkably better. APC does not pay lip service to democracy and I could see genuine passion among its leaders and members of how to move Nigeria forward.
On whether he will return to PDP again, Atiku said the question is not necessary, considering that he didn’t join Action Congress (AC) for frivolous reasons and the circumstances of 2007 are no longer the same today.
“The circumstances that led to my departure from the PDP to join AC are well known to Nigerians to bear a repetition. I was pushed out of the PDP; I didn’t leave. I was a victim of constructive ejection. If a landlord begins to remove your roof, disconnect your water supply and every other thing necessary for normal habitation, you don’t need anybody to tell you that you are not needed.
“The policy of de-registration in 2005 /2006 was directed at me and my supporters and I was eventually suspended from the party for a period longer than what the party constitution provided – three months. With such deliberate hostile environment created against me, I had to leave the PDP and join the AC,’ Atiku said.
On what will be the fate of members of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) allegedly registered by him, he said that although the party is made of his political friends and associates, he has no right to dictate to them how they will run the party.
“The future is in front of us, all of us. What Nigeria does in the next election will determine whether the future is filled with hope and opportunity or fear and despair as it is now? The next election will decide if Nigeria will change the way it does business, so that every person who wants to work can have a job and the dignity that comes with it.
“The next election will decide on whether true security can be provided so that people who walk to market can return safely to their homes and be safe within them. The next election will decide whether or not a country like Nigeria can provide petrol to its population and not merely lines of lost time. The APC is ready for the next election and so am I.”
Source: Guardian
