Nigeria Has No Excuse to Fail-Full text of Atiku's speech Today

Former Vice President  Atiku Abubakar has finally declared his intention to stand for the 2011 presidential election on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party PDP.Atiku as he is popularly called declared his intention at a formal occasion in Abuja Nigeria’s federal capital territory today.His pronouncements

The former vice president’s declaration is however overshadowed by reports that some chieftains of the PDP do not want him to stand for election.His opponents are believed to be behind the refusal of the PDP's  NEC to grant waivers for him to run for the 2011 polls.His name was curiously left out of s the list of returnees granted waiver to run for election last week.

The PDP is bursting at the seams as it reels under the impact of heavyweight presidential candidates like the President Goodluck Jonathan, former Military President Ibrahim Babangida , Atiku, and Aliyu Gusau,the National Security Adviser and a  host of others.

The 2011 presiential polls have also been beclouded by debates over the PDP arrangement which had zoned the Presidency to the North.It is believed that the plot against Atiku may be a fall out of his dogged insistence that Jonathan should not run for election in 2011.There is also the fear that associates of Babangida may not want Atiku to stand too even though IBB and Atiku are seemingly united now in their battle to see the zoning formular restored.

It is believed that agents of Jonathan and perhaps IBB are the forces behind the crisis in Atiku’s Adamawa state  where the state chapter has consistently maintained that Atiku is as yet unknown to the party despite his well known announcement that he had returned to the PDP after his sojourn with the Action Congress,AC

But if the recent past events are a guide, it is easy to state that those willing to stop Atiku may need to redouble their efforts.The former Vice President fought former President Olusegun Obasanjo to a standstill while the ex president tried to prevent Atiku from standing for election in 2007.Atiku fought through the courts, even up to the apex court to defend his rights.The same scenario is likely to unfold, except there is any political horse-trading anytime soon to resolve the looming impasse Atiku’s battles may unleash.