ACN Picks Ribadu To Battle Jonathan

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)  on Friday endorsed former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as its presidential candidate for the April general elections.

Ribadu emerged the party’s candidate after the other two presidential aspirants, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa and Mallam Seidu Malami, agreed to step down for him.

The duo were persuaded by leaders of the party at a special convention of the ACN held at Onikan Stadium, Lagos
The convention, which was supposed to commence by 10:00a.m., did not start until 1:49 p.m, because it was learnt it took efforts to convince the other aspirants to step down.

Announcing his decision to step down, Bafarawa said his purpose of joining ACN was not mainly to become a presidential candidate, but to contribute to good governance in the country, saying he was not desperate to get to position of authority.

He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was interested in dividing the ACN, but he would never allow that.

He maintained that his decision to withdraw was a sacrifice towards making the country better, noting that he would not cease from making such sacrifice in the interest of the nation.

“I don’t just want to be seen as making sacrifice, but I will continue to do it,” he stated.

Bafarawa said there was a rumour earlier that he and Malami had been disqualified by the party, adding that he knew such rumour was peddled by the PDP to break the party .

Speaking in the same vein, Mallam Malami said he believed in the party because it parades array of people with credibility and was the only party that accommodates the yearnings of Nigerians for a change.

According to him, it makes sense to heed the advice of elders of the party who prevailed on him to step down.

A motion adopting Ribadu as the presidential candidate of the party was moved by the Chairman, Special Presidential Convention Committee, Senator Lawan Shuaibu, and was seconded by Dr Muiz Banire. The endorsement was ratified by a voice vote from the delegates present who chorused “ayes” to affirm his adoption.

In his acceptance speech, Ribadu noted that the forthcoming election would determine whether the country would be a great nation or be relegated, because the PDP led Federal Government had succeeded in impoverishing Nigerians.

He maintained that change remained the template of determining the future, saying there was need for meaningful and total generational change.

According to Senator Shuaibu, the process of merging ACN with other political parties has made the party to have a new look with committed members.

He said that was why some of those who lost out in the party primaries still deemed it fit to be at the convention.

Short URL: http://newnigerianpolitics.com/?p=2325

Posted by admin on Jan 14 2011. Filed under Elections 2011, General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry