Abuja — An Aide to Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, has said Atiku is undaunted in the presidential race for 2007, despite the humiliation and political manoeuvres aimed at frustrating him.

In the last few months, the Presidency had systematically sacked most of Atiku's aides, leaving him with only two.

A statement signed by Eze in Abuja, said despite the "ploys,

schemes, plots and gang up against Atiku, he remains undaunted, and is still politically relevant in the scheme of things."

According to him, "One of the many sins of Atiku Abubakar in the eyes of his political opponents is that they claim he is over ambitious. It is disheartening to note that today, for lack of ideas on how to stop him from winning the 2007 presidential election, political Lilliputians and cynics now portray him as being over ambitious.

"This school of thought forgot that by 2007, Atiku Abubakar would have served this nation as the Vice-President for eight good years, and should be ambitious to desire the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."

Eze said it was common knowledge that the infamous revalidation and registration exercise of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members was allegedly organised to get the Vice President and his supporters out of PDP.

He said the sack of Atiku's aides is "one very big achievement for this administration. Out of 22 aides, Atiku is today left with only two, in order to cripple his constitutional duties and render him irrelevant.

"Any state governor, minister or politician of note that has any political inclination towards Atiku Abubakar should be humiliated, abused and treated as criminal to frighten every other Nigerian from associating with him.

"Today, for you to be politically relevant, or to be an achiever, you must be seen as working against Atiku Abubakar."

Eze urged President Olusegun Obasanjo not to allow "political miscreants to set a hedge between him and Atiku, who not only loves him, but ready to protect his legacies and interests.

"Obasanjo has allowed himself to be tossed to and fro by political dwarfs who want to destroy not only PDP, but rubbish all that he stood for as a one time Military Head of State and elder stateman," he said.