Former Vice President and a presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar, said yesterday in Abuja that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is defective in conducting free and fair elections.
He also said members of the party canvassing an automatic ticket for candidates are afraid of primaries.
Speaking with reporters at his home in Abuja, the ex-Vice President said asking him not to contest the presidential election is like asking him to give up on Nigeria, adding: “I cannot give up on Nigeria because I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
On the insecurity in the country, he said: “I am absolutely upset and angry with this insecurity situation. I don’t believe that as a country, we have done enough to secure this country. These bunch of Boko Haram insurgents have been operating for nearly four or five years now. Knowing Nigeria, we pride ourselves as having the best armed forces on this continent.
“I really don’t know where things went wrong. Is it the armed forces or the political leaders? I just can’t believe what is happening. I am not in a position to explain it because I am not in government. But I don’t believe that this is a situation that Nigeria would not have dealt a very fatal blow within three to six months.
“I remember that when we were in office, such a group wanted to emerge in Yobe State and we smashed that group completely within a couple of weeks. That such a group should be allowed to operate for four or five years in this country and even saying they have occupied part of the country, hoisting flag and nobody is doing anything is unbelievable.
“Please help me ask them what is wrong because I am very upset and angry about this development. When I visited the son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, I said I wished I were a young man. I would have gone to the front to fight. It is unbelievable, what is happening.”
