By Collins Edomaruse, 07.18.2010
Former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar is to take another shot at the office of president in next year’s election, his Media Consultant, Mallam Garuba Shehu, has confirmed.
"It is true that he has been working on the project. He has been visiting all parts of the country to secure the support of Nigerians for his aspiration. His emphasis has been on developing a policy document on how to address the challenges facing Nigeria. He believes the 2011 election should be dominated by issues of utmost concern to the well being of Nigerians."
THISDAY gathered at the weekend that the politician has dispersed his to the six geo-political zones to test-run his policy framework among Nigerians. The team would be in the field for two weeks.


The policy framework include security, job creation, power and infrastructure and the Niger Delta, as priorities, is to be presented to "review groups" across the country to in-put the views of Nigerians for the final policy document.
Besides, the former Vice President has assembled a team of young professionals to manage his campaign for the 2011 election.
The team, THISDAY further gathered, has been working below the radar in the last few weeks and would soon be unveiled when it moves into a new campaign office said to be located in the central part of Abuja.


Atiku, who contested the 2007 presidential election on the platform of the Action Congress, returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) earlier this year. He left the PDP in 2006 when he, alongside many of his associates, was denied registration in the party at the height of his conflict with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It was also gathered that the former vice-president has been silently crisis-crossing the country holding consultations with politicians and critical elements in the states.
He was in the South East at the weekend in continuation of his consultations across the country.


The consultations, THISDAY also learnt, were designed to achieve two results. "The first was to enlist the support of many of the politicians and key stakeholders to support his presidential ambition. It is also designed to exchange ideas with the key stakeholders on his policy ideas for addressing major challenges, which he hopes to confront if elected president next year."
In 2006, Atiku had assembled about 120 professionals cutting across professional groups in a retreat in Abuja to review his policy initiatives. The outcome of the review was his policy document which was entitled, "From Reform to Prosperity".
Among the notable initiatives in the document was the creation of Ministry of Niger Delta, which Atiku said, wilould address the challenges in the Niger Delta just as the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory confronted the challenge of the rapid development of Abuja as the new federal capital.