* Goes ahead with declaration today

* Why PDP NEC did not endorse President Jonathan

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is going ahead with the announcement of his intention to contest for the office of president  on the platform of the PDP, regardless of the party’s statement that he is not yet a member.

However the Atiku Campaign Headquarters remains in constant communication with the national secretariat of the PDP.

In a statement  yesterday  the ATIKU CAMPAIGN ORGANISATION spoke of the determination of  the former Vice President to proceed  with his declaration today.

The statement:
“Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar will announce his intent to contest for the office of President of Nigeria on the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP as scheduled.
“Date: Sunday, August 15th, 2010.
“Venue: Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
“Time: 1:00pm.
“Media men and invited Guests should please take note.
“SIGNED: Garba Shehu
“For: ATIKU CAMPAIGN ORGANISATION”.

The camp of the former Vice President remains agog ahead of today’s declaration.

PDP NEC and President Jonathan
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the main reason why the PDP NEC  did not wholly endorse President Jonathan as its sole candidate for next year’s presidential election was because it would have created bigger problems for his aspirations.

In the build up to last Thursday’s NEC meeting of PDP, there were those who were working on the thesis that President Jonathan should be endorsed as PDP’s sole candidate for next January’s election.
On the other hand within the same political camp were those who believed that engaging the democratic space for openness would go a long way in sending the right signal!
Yet, there were still a few who wanted the zoning arrangement in the party to be etched  on stone at that meeting, thereby, making it sacrosanct as well as barring President Jonathan from participating.

Therefore, at last Thursday’s NEC meeting of the party, it was a battle between those pushing for sole candidacy, those threading the middle ground of sanctioning President Jonathan’s participation and those who wanted him barred from contesting.

However, the issue of constitutionality of the either stopping other Nigerians from participating in the PDP primaries with President Jonathan and the action of stopping President Jonathan himself from participating, swayed arguments in favour of the eventual middle trodden by PDP.

President Jonathan, Sunday Vanguard was told, has always insisted on the need for an open field, especially based on counsel from just a few moderates in his camp.

A source told Sunday Vanguard that “allowing the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria to prevail presented our party as one which respects the Constitution”.

But another then asked: “Not without warning, in the situation that we have found ourselves now, where the party has, in a manner of speaking, given a waiver for President Jonathan to seek re-election, how would you expect those who are leaders of the party to allow their choice of candidate fail”?

Asked how the party would cope with renegades who may not buy into a Jonathan ascendancy and, therefore, work against the interest of the party at the general elections, the response from another PDP leader was simple:  “We are politicians and we will continue to persuade our people to do the right thing for the country”, was the direct shot.

It was also discovered that a series of consultations are expected this week with a view to assuaging some frayed nerves over the issue of zoning, as well as the presidential aspiration of some other party members and leaders.