I won’t go away from politics’, Atiku insists

• Vows to continue struggling to deepen nation’s democracy

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has vowed not to go away from politics, declaring that for as long as he lives, he would continue to struggle, with other Nigerians, to deepen the nation’s democracy and rule of law.

Atiku made the vow on Monday at a world press conference he addressed at the PDP headquarters, Wadata house, Abuja.

The Monday’s press conference by Atiku came barely a week after he lost his appeal at the Supreme court last week Wednesday.

The former Vice President insisted that he will continue to struggle, with other Nigerians, to deepen the country’s democracy and rule of law and for the kind of political and economic restructuring the country needs to reach its true potential.

His words, “However, I am not going away. If you think i am going to go away, forget about it.

“For as long as I breathe I will continue to struggle, with other Nigerians, to deepen our democracy and rule of law and for the kind of political and economic restructuring the country needs to reach its true potential.

“That struggle should now be led by the younger generation of Nigerians who have even more at stake than my generation”, he said.

Atiku similarly made some proposals which he believes will be of immense help to the nation’s political system

According to him, “We can urgently make constitutional amendments that will prevent any court or tribunal from hiding behind technicalities and legal sophistry to affirm electoral heists and undermine the will of the people.

“Our democracy must mean something; it must be substantive. Above all, it must be expressed through free, fair and transparent elections that respect the will of the people.

“Firstly, we must make electronic voting and collation of results mandatory. This is the 21st century and countries less advanced than Nigeria are doing so already. It is only bold initiatives that transform societies.

“Secondly, we must provide that all litigation arising from a disputed election must be concluded before the inauguration of a winner. This was the case in 1979.

“The current time frame between elections and inauguration of winners is inadequate to dispense with election litigations”, he suggested among others.