Former vice president and All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has refuted a newspaper cover story headlined, ‘2015: I don’t need your endorsement, Atiku blasts Obasanjo,” saying that he didn’t make such statement anywhere.
In a press statement signed by the Coordinator, Atiku Media Office, Garba Shehu, he said the headline did not capture the import of what Atiku said during his media interaction with journalists at the unveiling of his draft policy document.
He said even when Atiku was asked if the choice of the venue at Obasanjo’s library was a subtle way of soliciting Obasanjo’s support for his presidential ambition, he answered, “Honestly, I don’t know how the choice came about.
Ask my DG. But I also asked him and he said the problem was that when we go to Lagos, people’s daily activities get disrupted. But, if we come to Abeokuta, it is a more serene and conducive atmosphere for thinking and discussion unlike Lagos.”
On the endorsement, Garba also quoted his principal to have said: “If you want the issue of endorsement from Obasanjo for anyone, Obasanjo is in PDP and he has the right to endorse anyone he wants to. He has the right to endorse or not to endorse. That is the beauty of democracy.”
He went further, according to Garba to support his stand with what happened in America. He said: “You remember in 2008 when President Barack Obama first ran for president; a leading Republican, General Collin Powel decided to endorse Obama. That is the beauty of democracy. You have the right to endorse anybody that you want. The final choice is with the electorate and that is the most important thing. So, don’t bother yourself with who endorses me or who doesn’t endorse me. What you should bother yourself with is if I will be a good president. Have I prepared myself to be a good president? If you think I am, cast your vote for me; if you think I am not, take it to anyone you want to vote for.”
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