'Atiku not zoned out'

FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed as "sponsored stories," reports by a section of the media to the effect that the All Progressives Congress (APC) of which he is a chieftain had zoned him out of the presidential contest following a new arrangement. A statement issued by the Atiku Media Office on Saturday,  quoted the former Vice President as saying at no time did the party's Convention Planning Committee or its recently-dissolved Interim National Executive Council (NEC) discuss the issue of zoning of elective offices outside the positions of leadership of the party which he said, were filled at the highly successful convention held on Friday. "As for the presidential ticket, the position of all organs of the party is that it is open to all Nigerians irrespective of where they come from," Atiku said. The statement described as "a hatchet job for Aso Rock" a front page lead story in today's edition of a newspaper titled "Atiku Zoned Out" wondering why the presidency is scared of the prospect of Dr Jonathan facing Atiku in 2015. It also accused the newspaper of abandoning principles and its responsibility to the public "by uncritically accepting and mechanically reproducing editorials, opinions and reports" from the Villa.