With former vice president Atiku Abubakar emerging as the presidential flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party, there is no doubt that hope has come alive for the major opposition party’s bid to regain power in 2019, ADELEKE ADESANYA writes
Against all the odds, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has weathered the storm in the presidential primary of the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party. At the primary that was keenly contested by 14 aspirants, Atiku emerged the party’s flag bearer to run against President Muhammadu Buhari and others in the presidential race slated for next year.
With the development, Atiku’s chance of achieving his long time dream appears to be coming to reality as this will be the first time he is coming closer to govern the country.
Atiku’s chance of achieving his long time dream appears to be coming to reality as this will be the first time he is coming closer to govern the country
For a fact, Atiku remains the only candidate that is believed would be able to give the ruling All Progressives Congress and President Buhari a good run for their money in the contest.
His weight in the Nigerian political space is expected to bring him lots of advantage in the race. Moreover, analysts are quick to acknowledge that the former vice president is the only candidate that has major political structure at every nook and cranny of the country.
They believe that Atiku remains the only real contender in the race against President Buhari. According to them, the former vice president will match up with Buhari in the contest even in the northern part of the country.
“Atiku was a clear front-runner for the PDP’s presidential pick. More so, than his competitors, the former VP is well-known in Nigeria, has vast experience in the corridors of power, and has a large war chest. Atiku is the only contender that could actually defeat Buhari. So, his win shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise,” Sola Tayo, Associate Fellow at Chatham House, said.
Another analyst, Lagun Akinloye, said Atiku will have to develop a strong manifesto to appeal to voters. He will be helped in this by widespread frustrations at high levels of unemployment, unreliable power generation and the weak economic performance under Buhari. Atiku has criticized the president’s interventionist economic policies, which he says are “clearly anti-business and anti-foreign investment.” He has expressed support for greater regional autonomy and has called for increased spending on education.
Meanwhile, strong political stakeholders in the country are beginning to rally support for the former vice president to defeat President Buhari in the forthcoming election.
A former military head, General Ibrahim Babangida, shortly after the PDP primary that produced Atiku as the party’s flag bearer, said he was ready to back the former vice president to succeed in defeating Buhari in 2019. Meanwhile, Babagida was one of the major people that Atiku consulted for his ambition earlier.
Though the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, said it would still have to sit down and decide who it would support for the presidential election, one of its chieftains, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said, the group will in no manner support President Buhari, stressing that the support of the group will only be for former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku’s challengers at the primary election and big wigs in the party have also reiterated their support for his presidential ambition
Adebanjo in a phone chat with our correspondent, said “I have told you before and I will tell you again that we will go for Atiku. How do you expect us to support someone who does not believe in restructuring, who doesn’t recognise the Yoruba nation. I cannot in any way support a tribalistic person. That is my stand.”
On his part, the Secretary General of the Afenifere, Bashorun Sehinde Arogbofa, also described Atiku as a politician who will restore hope in the country.
“Honestly, when we compare Atiku with others, you will see him as somebody who has paid his dues. Among other politicians and our former rulers, Atiku has made his marks.
“Before the PDP primaries, Atiku came to us in Afenifere and promised us that he was going to restructure the country, and we have already said that anybody who wants to restructure with all seriousness, such a person will be our candidate,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Point authoritatively gathered that former President Olusegun Obasanjo may be soft-pedaling in his opposition to Atiku as he seems to be ready to give his blessing to the his former deputy. Speaking to our correspondent, one of Obasanjo’s aide, Akin Osuntokun, said Obasanjo was ready to opt for Atiku .
“Baba said he was ready to go with Atiku instead of Buhari. He was really fed up with Buhari’s government,” Oshuntokun disclosed.
Osuntokun had earlier said Obasanjo’s rift with Atku is a big concern after which the former president had secured the PDP’s ticket to run against Buhari in 2019.
“The only reservation I have about his candidacy is the issue relationship between him and Obasanjo. But he managed to show a lot of humanity .He paid tribute to Obasanjo in his acceptance speech. .. He is the strongest aspirant among the lot,” Osuntokun had
said.
For the Convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Pastor Tunde Bakare, the 2019 presidential race between President Buhari of APC and former Vice President Atiku of PDP would be a robust fight between two ‘old eagles’. Bakare said the emergence of Atiku as PDP presidential candidate preludes a tough contest, adding that the former vice president appears to be the most cosmopolitan among those who contested against
him.
Bakare was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election.
Bakare said both Buhari and Atiku are equal match but the choice of who becomes the president in 2019 is with Nigerians.
“I can’t say Atiku will win or Atiku will lose. I congratulate him; it makes the issue now much more robust. It is not going to be Eaglets versus Eagles. It is going to be Eagle versus Eagle; old Eagle versus new Eagle, or probably both of them old Eagles.
“I am not advocating for Atiku. Of all of them, he is perhaps the most cosmopolitan. He is a Wazobia man. His first wife is Yoruba, his second wife Fulani; his third wife is Ibo. Experience- wise, he has been Vice – President for eight years and he inherited something from late Yar’Adua that he has held unto and he has used effectively.
“He has been a businessman with business acumen and he is well exposed. You see, sometimes, that is not what qualifies a man to win, “ Bakare said.
Apart from political stakeholders in the country, Atiku’s challengers in the primary election and big wigs in the party have also reiterated their support for his presidential ambition.
The senate president , Bukola Saraki, who contested in the presidential primary said “All the other aspirants, especially I, are ready to walk and work with him to spread the positive message of the PDP.”
Meanwhile, in what was seen as a show of solidarity, the defeated contestants stood behind Atiku during his acceptance speech.
The development, according to pundits, indicated the readiness of the party’s faithful to give up their differences and wrestle power from APC even as the former vice president will need to do his homework properly to achieve his goal of sacking the ruling the country.
Hurdles before Atiku
Apart from the normal incumbency power which Atiku is expected to contend with, one of the major hurdles before Atiku is his alleged corrupt profile.
It is believed that the ruling party, APC, and his all-time enemies will leverage on these issues during the election campaign.
Analysts believed that despite the fact that Nigerians have been disappointed by Buhari’s promised “war on corruption”, he is still seen as relatively incorruptible among Nigeria’s politicians.
Meanwhile, another factor that will play a big role in determining the fate of Atiku is his relevance in the north.
Buhari is from the North-west. This geopolitical zone provided him with 46% of his entire 15 million vote count in 2015. Atiku, who is from the North-east, will have to eat into this significantly if he is to mount a realistic
challenge.
Another issue is that the PDP nominee will also have to pick his running mate carefully. Just as Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is a Yoruba from the populous South-west, PDP and Atiku will have to bear this in mind when balancing his own ticket. He is expected to create the right ethnic balance to counter Osinbajo’s popularity to gather vote from the geopolitical zone.
Meanwhile, as political watchers continue to watch what will become the fate of Atiku this time around, time and decision from Nigerians at the 2019 poll would provide the perfect answer.
