FORMER Vice President Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar has said that he contested the 2007 presidential elections in
the face of defeat, to preserve the sanctity of democracy.
He also noted that he would never go
back to the vow he took on the night late Gen. Sani Abacha allegedly sent hit
squad after him, never to allow another despot rule Nigeria again.
The former Vice President, who said
this in a statement yesterday, stated that after his first term as Vice
President, he was faced with a fundamental question of remaining loyal to his boss,
party or constitution.
His words: “This might sound strange
because that was two nights before the 2007 Presidential elections, and we were
about to lose. It was my first, and only, run in a general election for
president, and I knew it would be a heavy loss.
“At that point I knew if I did not
run in that election, all those battles over the years would be lost. People in
the future could potentially be banned from contesting elections because petty
personal vendettas outweigh legitimate court rulings. I also ran because, win
or lose, I would have given a gift of legitimacy to our democracy, even if I
was not going to enjoy the results.
“So the next morning, I went out,
voted, went home and waited for my loss as expected. I knew that while I was
going to lose a battle, I had won the war – a war to preserve the sanctity of
our democratic process.’’
In addition, he said, “Over the
preceding four years – at great risk to my own political future – I had engaged
in long, tough battle to maintain the viability of our young democracy by
preserving the presidential term limits prescribed by the constitution.
The issues that led to these battles were rooted in principle. The key
element was that after a productive first term as Vice President, I was faced
with a fundamental question of loyalty: should I remain loyal to my boss and
party, or should I remain loyal to our constitution and democracy?’’
Continuing, Atiku said, “And Abacha
went so far as to send a hit squad to open fire on my family and me at our home
in Kaduna. That was the very night I vowed that when we defeated this military
junta, I would never allow another despot to sit and rule over the people of
Nigeria.
“This gift of life and of dreams is
why I stay in the fight for justice, in the hope it will eventually bring the
kind of government Nigeria truly deserves. This is what democracy means to me –
freedom, opportunity and dignity for Nigerians.’’
Source: Vanguard
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