Amidst the continued controversy over power shift, former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar says with or without zoning he is sure of winning  an election at any time in Nigeria. He stated this in Kaduna in an interview with inquisitive journalists ahead of party primaries.

It would be recalled that prior to the advent of this republic in 1999, there was an understanding that power be rotated between the north and south for obvious reasons. 

Following this arrangement, the south was able to hold on to power for eight years, at the end of which it returned to the north with the emergence of late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua  in 2007.

With the death of Yar’adua, vice president Goodluck Jonathan eventually became the president .But he  wants to continue in office by contesting the 2011 general election in accordance with provisions in the Nigerian constitution. This is at the centre of the on-going debate over zoning which the north says  must be respected now

Atiku is one of the frontline politicians of northern extraction warming up for 2011 presidential race. He was in Kaduna with his campaign train to solicit support for his political ambition.

Reacting to a question on whether  he cannot win election without zoning, Atiku retorted that “you know I could do it”. He reminded Nigerians that “I did it in 1993” and boasted that “I could do it any time. Whether zoning or no zoning, I believe I can compete with anybody from any part of this country”.

As part of his readiness for the forthcoming  electoral battle , Atiku who is one of the presidential aspirants in the north looking for PDP presidential ticket, on Thursday commissioned his campaign office for effective coordination of his political activities. The office is located on Alkali road in Kaduna metropolis. 

Speaking further, he told his northern political admirers that the process in the choice of a consensus candidate for the 2011 presidential election is moving very well and that “we are all bound by whatever agreement that will be reached”.