Ribadu Remains In Presidential Race As Alliance Talks Between ACN and CPC Have Broken Down - source: sahara reporters

Nuhu Ribadu

 Reports reaching SaharaReporters from Abuja indicate that the Lagos House talks in Abuja between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) about possible alliance in preparation for next Saturday’s presidential election have broken down.
As reported a few hours ago, the agreement would have required that Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the presidential candidate, of the ACN step down.  That proposal is said to be sitting poorly with some key members of the ACN who believe it might bring to them the same disaster that befell its predecessor, the Alliance for Democracy, several years ago when it decided to work with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).  The PDP went on to take over the southwestern states. 
SaharaReporters has learned that as the talks between the parties have lurched on inconclusively, several interested parties that retired to the home of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the Wuse II area of Abuja to explore ways of rescuing the situation also failed to reach a deal.  Some of those parties, our sources say, include key Northern leaders such as former military president, Ibrahim Bademasi Babangida; former National Security Adviser  Aliyu Ismaila Gwarzo, , Abubakar Atiku disaffected members of the PDP who believe Buhari is suitably equipped to hold the country together. Also present are , ACN secretary Shuaibu, governors of Osun and Ekiti states; Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola as well as Ribadu and Buhari
An analyst said that such manoevres are not uncommon in an election of this nature.  Last Saturday, Goodluck Jonathan was in Lagos to meet with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, an ACN chieftain, as he seeks a way to scuttle cooperation between the ACN and CPC.
As of the time of filing this report, the ACN  has instructed all its officials to debunk earlier insinuations that it had agreed for its  candidate to stepdown for Buhari during Saturday’s presidential election.
The party told its adherents that ACN did better than the CPC across Nigeria and as such could not agree to play a second fiddle to the CPC in view of CPC’s woeful performance last weekend.