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The failed alliance talks between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was midwived by the trio of the former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, former National Security Adviser, General Muhammadu Gusau and the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The National Secretary of the ACN, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP yesterday.
He also denied ever tongue-lashing the CPC flagbearer, General Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “General Babangida, General Gusau and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar were involved in the alliance talk, they moderated the talk, and they were telling us why we should come together instead of scattering our votes. But it is disheartening that the CPC failed us despite our readiness to sacrifice our own presidential candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,” he disclosed.
Babangida, Gusau and Atiku were presidential aspirants on the PDP platform before they parted ways as a protest to the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as the flagbearer of the party even with Abubakar as the northern consensus candidate.
According to him, the last straw that broke the camel’s back was when the ACN asked Buhari’s running mate, Pastor Tunde Bakare, to step down but he refused.
“Their vice-presidential candidate refused to resign for us to nominate our man. They were not ready for’ give and take’ and that was why the whole thing collapsed.”
Commenting on Buhari’s allegation that the ACN and the PDP have a pact, Shuaibu said, “Our National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, made it very clear at a news conference in Abuja that because of the ideological differences between the ACN and the PDP; we cannot have any electoral collaboration with the PDP, let alone talk of participating in a government of national unity with them. So, there is no pact between us and that is why we were interested in the alliance between our party and the CPC because we have a lot in common.
“In the event of a run-off between Jonathan (PDP presidential candidate) and Buhari; Buhari may need the support of the ACN. In the same vein, should there be a run-off between Jonathan and (Nuhu) Ribadu (ACN presidential candidate), we may need Buhari to back him (Ribadu). We consider Buhari’s interview as something we never expected because the allegation is baseless. We challenge Buhari to prove his allegation. Let him prove it. There was never any deal like that between the ACN and the PDP. We would like Buhari to prove his allegation.”
He added, “General Buhari is a highly respected Nigerian leader, politics or no politics, he is a great Nigerian and I would never abuse him or use any unprintable word against him. It is regrettable that a reporter attributed what I never said to me. I have told the reporter to correct the error, otherwise I know what to do.”
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