…as moves to enlist IBB’s support suffer setback
- Kwankwaso, Lamido remain in presidential race
- He’ll overcome all, says aide
As 2018 beckons, the natural obsession in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party is how to pick an acceptable candidate to stand against President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, in the 2019 presidential election.
Already, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who returned to the party on December 3, after leaving the APC, is on song, to pick the PDP presidential ticket.
But contrary to the euphoria that has greeted the return of Atiku as ‘Man who will be King’, fresh investigations by The Point have indicated that a tough duel awaits the ex-VP in the party, as he is bound to face various hostilities, especially from other presidential hopefuls and sundry detractors.
Atiku, like President Buhari of the ruling APC, who contested presidential elections four times before he finally clinched the position, is contesting the Presidency for the third time, with much optimism to emerge winner.
For the ex-VP, however, mechanisms are beginning to be set in motion, as he has particularly begun consultations, visiting various party leaders with clout, and opinion moulders, in a bid to win their support.
Sources close to Atiku said the Waziri Adamawa, as he is fondly called, had initiated rapprochements and other peace moves in a bid to make other presidential contestants stand down and make him their consensus candidate, with promises of positions’ allotment once he secures victory.
The sources also revealed that their principal is threading a middle ground in the internal crisis that led to the factionalisation of the party before the Supreme Court judgement; a verdict that served as natural arbiter. In spite of the seeming unity in the party, the sources revealed that the factions are still alive, but have become domesticated in support for preferred presidential and governorship contestants.
These various factions, the sources said, played out at the just concluded convention, which produced a new national chairman for the party, at the weekend.
THE KWAKWANSO FACTOR
Although the coast seems clear for the Adamawa-born politician, especially with the seeming poor performance of the APC in the last two years, there are pretty high internal hurdles for Atiku to scale, in the race for the PDP presidential ticket.
One of them is the touted readiness of APC chieftain and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to, just like Atiku, return to the PDP and jostle for its presidential ticket, having experienced what his loyalists described as “marginalisation”, in the APC.
There are indications that the former Kano state governor is mobilising support for his camp. For instance, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum led by Yerima Shettima has asked aspirants above the age of 60 to perish the thought of becoming president, which many see as a veiled reference to Buhari and Atiku. Again, leader of the Northern Youth Forum for National Development, Turaki Yahaya Abubakar, recently disclosed that he and his team had pitched tents with Kwankwaso.
His argument was that Kwankwaso, being the youngest among Buhari and Atiku, would have the vigour and would be able to carry the weight of governance, if elected as President.
He said, “The Northern Youth Forum for National Development is more interested in Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso due to some reasons, which include his youthful age.
“Age is no longer in favour of Atiku. Buhari spent many months in London on medical grounds with civil society groups and Nigerians divided over whether he should resign or remain in office.
“Kwankwaso is very hardworking, philanthropic, charismatic, faithful and sincere concerning all his commitments. He will also take everybody along. He has so many leadership qualities, unlike other northern leaders, regardless of party affiliation. If elected, he will certainly transform our nation economically and otherwise. He is our choice and the best of all,” he said.
If there is anything to go by with the argument of the northern youth leader, the emphasis on “vigour”, which is largely predicated on age, apparently cannot be jettisoned.
Although the coast seems clear for the Adamawa-born politician, especially with the seeming poor performance of the APC in the last two years, there are pretty high internal hurdles for Atiku to scale in the race for the PDP presidential ticket
LAMIDO’S AMBITION
Apart from Kwankwaso, former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has also thrown his hat in the ring, signalling a tough contest as he is reputed to enjoy goodwill and have a deep pocket with which to prosecute his presidential ambition.
Besides, Lamido is reputed as former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s political godson, whereas, to Obasanjo, Atiku is rated an undisguised enemy.
In tandem, too, Lamido never defected to the APC despite the turbulence in the PDP and this may well be a cutting-edge in his aspiration to pick the PDP presidential ticket.
But a major drawback for Lamido is that his two sons are answering to corruption charges, with common belief that the wind of prosecution is progressively blowing towards Lamido, the father.
Although the coast seems clear for the Adamawa-born politician, especially with the seeming poor performance of the APC in the last two years, there are pretty high internal hurdles for Atiku to scale in the race for the PDP presidential ticket
CRITICISMS BY THE INTELLECTUALS
But even if Atiku manages to surmount Kwankwaso and Lamido’s factors, he may still have some challenges among some intellectuals, who see his possible election as the return of those they describe as “old cargoes” reputed to have bled the Nigerian economy, plunging it into the present quagmire.
A political historian and social commentator, Oladele Akinlabi, while reliving the country’s political antecedents, submitted that “Atiku is a major player who has shaped the polity, especially in the present democratic dispensation, with its ailing phenomena.
“Atiku has contributed to where we are as a nation today. He is part of the team consisting those who looted our funds while he was in the Customs and when he was the Vice President.
He is one of the politicians, who immediately after leaving office, built private universities, owned investments outside the country and created fertile grounds for corruption to flourish.
“As if that was not enough, he still wants to come and impoverish us further, to pack away the little money this present government is trying to recover for the good of all. And no wonder, because the APC is not fertile for him to amass wealth, he has jumped back to the PDP, a party which for 16 years wasted our resources,” Akinlabi averred.
But in a swift reaction, a close aide to Atiku, Ambassador Aliyu Bin Abbas, described those tagging Atiku with allegations of corruption without going into specifics as either sponsored, mischievous or unreasonably unfair enemies of the
former VP.
Abass, who is national chairman of Atiku Care Foundation, a charity group floated by Atiku’s loyalists, said, “For many years, they have been saying Atiku is corrupt, Atiku is corrupt, without being able to mention one corrupt practice that he perpetrated.
“They took this campaign of calumny to a ridiculous extent by saying Atiku could not step his feet on the soil of USA because he was being wanted there for fraud.
“Yet, a reputable US organisation has announced the donation of US$5 million to the Atiku Care Foundation. Will they be daft enough to team up with a fraud? Certainly, God is with the righteous, as He is with an Atiku with clean hands.”
OBASANJO’S OPPOSITION
Meanwhile, former President Obasanjo remains resolute in his stand against Atiku’s ambition.
Obasanjo, who insisted that Atiku would not become President while he is alive, has been drawing attention from political enthusiasts, who are expecting the former President to pass a clinching comment, once Atiku, the man who was VP under him, defected to the PDP.
There are indications that PDP bigwigs in the northern region are waiting for the verdict of Obasanjo before they determine if Atiku would be given the party’s topmost ticket.
Corroborating the sentiment, former President Goodluck Jonathan clearly told Atiku to go beg Obasanjo if he wanted to even get the ticket, much less become
president.
“Atiku must beg or apologise to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to get the 2019 presidential ticket of the PDP on a ‘platter of gold’.
“Although he has quit partisan politics, he is still a strong factor in shaping the future of the party and who might eventually become president,” Jonathan stressed.
Meanwhile, Atiku recently had a closed-door meeting with former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (rted), but observers noted that Atiku, after leaving IBB’s house, wore a long face, a possible indication that he met with some brick-walls in his efforts to rally the needed support of “the few shakers and movers of Nigerian politics”, whom IBB, a member of that class, might have
fronted for.
The meeting, according to political pundits, might not be unconnected with how to get the seemingly unattainable Obasanjo
support.
However, as the challenges to Atiku’s presidential dream continue to fester ahead of the election, the former Vice President, his close aides urge, has to maintain his focus to contain the growing tensions.
“Naturally, there must be opposition in one form or the other when you are striving to attain your goal; but focus, resilience and purity of heart will always pave
the way.
“These are the factors that keep Atiku going and by the grace of Almighty Allah, nobody can stop him,” said Abass.
