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The Goodluck/Sambo
Campaign Organisation restated yesterday that the plan by four
presidential aspirants, under the banner of Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), to pick a consensus candidate to run against President Goodluck
Jonathan, would fail.

Sully Abu,
spokesperson of the organisation, said in Abuja that it has faith in
the ballot box as the only viable means through which Nigerians would
determine who their next president would be.

Four presidential
hopeful from the north, namely Ibrahim Babangida, Atiku Abubakar, Aliyu
Gusau, and Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State have being pursuing a
consensus arrangement, which might end in one of them being picked to
contest the primaries. The supporters of the aspirants constituted a
17-member committee last month to achieve that purpose.

But Mr. Abu derided
the consensus arrangement, saying it was a gang up that would fail
because it was not based on any principle or programme, neither was it
in the interest of the Nigerian people, who, according to him, have
seen such gang-ups in the past come to nothing, in spite of the
unnecessary dust raised.

“The consensus
arrangement being pursued is based on sheer opportunism and driven by
an undemocratic and illiberal spirit. That is why they have continued
to be at pains to explain that they are at work, irrevocably committed
to the success of the arrangement,” he said.

The organisation’s
media chief noted that Nigerians would pick their president during the
forthcoming elections based on their conviction as to who best
represents their hope for fundamental change against the disastrous
policies and politics of past leaders.

Nigerians wish

Nigerians,
according to him, are by overwhelming evidence, rooting for the
Goodluck/Sambo ticket, and alleged that “this is what is making our
opponents desperate, so desperate indeed as to contemplate a gang up of
people who are otherwise very strange bedfellows.”

Meanwhile, the
organisation has said that the nation’s economy is right on track, as
testified by the finance minister, Olusegun Aganga, last week.

Mr. Abu, in a
statement, alleged that the opposition groups are now resorting to
scare mongering on the state of the economy after failing dismally with
their scare tactics to frighten Nigerians about the nation’s political
space.

“The alarm by the
Atiku Campaign Organization and their use of selective information on
the state of the economy flies in the face of the evidence of robust
growth being recorded.

“The minister of
finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, this week, stated categorically that the
economy enjoyed a 7% growth in the first half of this year. Indications
are that a double digit growth could be recorded by the end of next
year,” he said.

Mr. Abu also stated
that the organisation’s optimism about the economy was fuelled by the
Jonathan administration’s commitment to massive investment in power and
infrastructure, designed to transform the way Nigerians live and work.

He said that investors were responding enthusiastically to the new
climate, as indicated by the massive interest in the opportunities
presented in the power roadmap drawn up by the administration.