....Recent political events in the nation in the past few weeks require close examination, and we of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organization are ever ready to share our thoughts with you in our collective journey to consolidate our democracy and expand the frontiers of the rule of law, good governance and due process. 

2. The Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation salutes the courage and steadfastness of all stakeholders - political parties, state governors, civil society and the media - in pressuring the National Assembly into aborting the unnecessary process of further amending the 2010 Electoral Act. This collective stand caused the reversion to the original document which has been hailed by Nigerians as a significant step towards ensuring that the 2011 general elections are free, fair, transparent and credible. We also salute the humility of the members of the National Assembly in heeding wise counsel through the mature course of action they eventually took. We believe that removing the extraneous materials and toxic clauses in the proposed amendment will deepen our democracy and enhance internal democratic practices in the management of the affairs of political parties.

However, since the Senate threw out the proposed amendments to the Electoral act, Nigerians have remained in the dark about the status of the 2010 Electoral Act in view of the secrecy that apparently surrounds the work of the Joint Harmonization Committees of the two Chambers. We thus urge Nigerians to remain ever vigilant to ensure that the deleted materials do not re-surface in the final version of the Act. We also urge the National Assembly to finalize its work and publish the 2010 Electoral Act that will conform to the Act already in existence.

3. The Atiku Campaign Organization also salutes the NEC of the PDP in the far-reaching, progressive decision it reached during its 54th regular meeting, inspite of the spirited attempts by desperate politicians to subvert the will of party members. Some of these decisions include.

● The order of the primary elections in the party and

● The format of the Presidential primary election slated for January, 2011 which clearly specifies that the primary election will be conducted simultaneously in the 36 states and the FCT on the same day. We make reference in this regards to the published time-table of primary election activities issued by the NEC at the end of its meeting.

However, in the past few days, if media reports are anything to go by,

surreptitious attempts are being made to confuse the situation and create an un-warranted impression that the presidential primary election of the party will only be held in a central location in Abuja. We urge the NWC of the PDP to dispel these rumours and further affirm the decision reached by the NEC on this matter.

4. We also note that 22 days to the PDP Presidential Primary Election, the party is yet to constitute the panel to screen its presidential aspirants and invite various campaigns to a discussion on the format and modalities of the primary election. We urge the party to constitute this committee as quickly as possible so that party members and indeed the generality of Nigerians, will get to know who these individuals who will be discharging a tremendous obligation are, their mural integrity, uprightness and suitability for the job. We also urge the party

to extend an invitation to the various presidential campaign organizations to a meeting on the issues raised above and factor in their suggestions in the weighty decisions it is bound to take. 

5. Finally, while we are proud of the records of our Campaign as a disciplined, focused and issue based engagement with the delegates and Nigerians as a whole, our opponents are still wallowing in the unbecoming practice of smear campaign, fear-mongering, slander, character assassination and sheer pedestrian mischief. We are not perturbed in the least by sponsored petitions and oracular

predictions about disqualifying aspirants by politicians who are frightened about the prospects of a democratic contest. We are also not bothered that the NTA and a few other electronic media organs have been reduced to personal property of incumbent power authorities and that seditious materials daily drench the airwaves, with the NBC turning a blind eye.

            We are re-assured that Nigerians know the authors of the script advertorials and documentaries in question, understand their under handed motivations and have already exposed them for what they are, the desperate strategy of a failing campaign which cannot defend its record in office, and is thus hiding behind low level, negative campaign to mask its obvious non-performance. We want to assure Nigerians that we cannot be drawn into this level of political confrontation but will continue to focus on Atiku Abubakar’s  message of hope and good things to Nigerians: poverty reduction through job and wealth creation, stable power supply, fiscal responsibility and discipline in managing the national finances, re-energizing the Niger Delta development process which has all but collapse, renewal of social and public infrastructure, affordable functional education, social security for all Nigerians and universal health service delivery system.......

Being the text of a press briefing by Director General of Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, Sen. Ben Obi in Abuja today by Senator (Dr) Ben Obi Director General , Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation,Abuja,22 December, 2010.