Expectedly, Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has dragged seven governors of the Peoples Democratic Party to pull out of the national convention, forming a faction of the party.
The Governors are, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, Aliyu Babangida of Niger State; Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara and Sule Lamido of Jigawa.
It was also reported that Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo also walked out of the convention. While Atiku and his group declared Abukakar Baraje Chairman of the party and Olagunsoye Oyinlola National Secretary, it was not clear whether they have the blessings of Obsanjo who expressed his displeasre by walking out of the convention.
At the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Calabar, this week, Atiku had warned that Nigeria is at a crossroads but that the road to continued mediocrity is not an option if the country must attain the desired greatness.
The former Vice President made the assertion at the showcase session of Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Calabar.
Atiku noted that the path we are currently threading, which is marked by empty promises, avarice, greed and corruption cannot sustain nation building and development.
He opined that “nations are built one brick at a time, one person at a time, people helping people” adding “when people come together to help, rather than hurt each other, the people become the force from which a future is built, and a nation grows.”
Atiku Abubakar emphasised that the path to Nigeria’s greatness “demands honest, experienced and incorruptible leadership.”
Also, he said the envisaged greatness demands a sustained focus on economic development, critical improvements of infrastructure and uncompromised security system nationwide.
And as the nation charts its next 100-year course, the former Vice President said, the desired greatness in the main, demands putting the dignity, hopes and dreams of Nigerians especially our youth first and foremost.
The Turaki Adamawa, however, assured that if we put our house in order and decoy from this road to nowhere, the next 100 years may yet be the century of Nigeria’s greatness.