My rift with Obasanjo is over –Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the rift between himself and former President Olusegun Obasanjo is all over, reiterating that he harbours “no hatred or enmity” against his former boss. A statement by the Atiku Media Office on Tuesday quoted the former nation’s number two man as saying this on Tuesday in Abuja when he granted audience to the leaders of the Northern Youth Leaders Forum, a group that recently embarked on a mission to heal the rift between Obasanjo and his deputy. The statement added that the group, led by Comrade Eliot Afiyo, had weeks ago met the former President in Ota, at which event he announced that he had forgiven his former vice president. “I don’t harbour any grudge against my former boss. Yes, we had disagreements (when we were) in office. These were mere disagreements. I harbour no hatred or enmity against him or anybody. I never had anything against him and I will never have,” Atiku said while responding to the group. He explained that in politics, he had opponents, but no enemies. “Politics is not war,” he said. Atiku thanked the group for successfully brokering peace between him and Obasanjo, adding that this single effort had marked the leaders of the youth organisation as serious-minded people, who are fully prepared to take over the leadership of the country from the elders. Speaking on the current security situation in the country, Atiku appealed to the Federal Government to take the challenge more seriously. “If we can go to other countries to rid them of these kinds of problems, it shows that we have the capacity to put this one down immediately so that the suffering of the people can be reduced,” he added.