MUHAMMAD KABIR, Kano

He said another cardinal objective of the alliance was to prevent tenure elongation beyond May 29 by the federal government, adding that raging controversy on whether he should step down for ANPP presidential candidate, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) or not was unnecessary.

Alhaji Abubakar who is also the AC presidential candidate for the April 21 presidential spoke yesterday during an interactive session with newsmen at the Government House Kano.

The VP had flagged off his presidential campaign in the ancient city Saturday.

He said the three objectives of the AC/ANPP alliance, are to ensure free and fair elections in 2007, ensuring that those in government who don’t stay beyond May 29 and to produce a consensus candidate which can only be achieved by achieving one and two objectives.

The VP said the media preferred to propagate the last objectives of candidature, which is less important.

He said that Nigerians must realise that, the most important issue in the country is the 2007 elections and the survival of democracy because, according to him, in the past few years, democracy has been abused and bastardised by the ruling PDP.

"How do we stabilize democracy, and strengthen it and also protect all the institutions."

He said, it was obvious that the ruling PDP has been responsible for the threat to democracy and social order, and urged Nigerians to unite, and comfront to save the system.

Alhaji Abubakar, warned that, if people failed to stop the PDP from winning the elections the whole country will become one party state which is a dictatorship and a recipe for chaos and uncertainity. He said in the past seven years of PDP government, road contracts worth N300 billion had been awarded, "but uptill today no single one road is finished and has been commissioned by the president"

"Therefore the dream of AC government is to make sure that projects are conceived and well implemented within a short period of the government with transparency and accountability.

"For the past eight years, Nigeria, has been battling with the issue of power. Let me tell you a story in the year 2000, I went to the President and said Mr. President, we have so many sources of power which are provided by nature, but he didn’t heed my wise counsel. Rather we continue to depend on gas which can be blown up by militants any time and the whole country will be plunged into darkness.

"However despite this obvious fact, the PDP government still concentrated on the provision of power stations based on gas areas .

"Now an AC government will do things completely different. And let me tell you I am the best person to do it, I am the most experience Vice President ever since that position was created. You may be military ex president, but today I am the most living and practising VP with vast experience," Atiku said.