A former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, is an influential Nigerian statesman and patriot whose political clock is gradually grinding to a halt. Atiku, 78, came up short of victory in Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, but because of the popular belief that the appetite for personal ambition cannot be satisfied, the politician’s body language has continued to express his intent to have a final crack at clinching victory in 2027....Read Full Article >>➤
And all things being equal, Nigeria’s perennial presidential candidate – as Atiku is wont to be called because of his six unsuccessful shots at the presidential seat – can cap off an impressive political journey by becoming Nigeria’s 17th President.
But the main question around Atiku’s ambition that is on the lips of even stakeholders in his party, the People’s Democratic Party, is whether he has the fortitude to soldier on across the finishing line of the elusive presidential mandate he so anxiously desires to hold in the cup of his hand.
Atiku believes he still has what it takes to govern a diverse country like Nigeria with all its complexities, and he is not leaving anyone in doubt about it. To his credit, his grind so far has been impactful.
But those who are against Atiku’s ambition have never been caught resting on their oars.
Before the last general elections, his opponents made a big deal out of his decision to want to live in and operate from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
They called Atiku “the Dubai politician” and also mocked him for always flying into Nigeria each time a presidential election was on the horizon.
Atiku is changing that narrative now, or so he would have Nigerians believe.
His loyalists say he resides more in Nigeria now, even though he jets out of the country once in a while for engagements outside the country.
The Wazirin Adamawa has also been ensuring that he keeps the current All Progressives Congress administration led by Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, on its toes.
His criticism of the government usually packs a punch and attracts media attention, and as the long walk to 2027 continues, only time will tell the extent of damage his tackling of perceived government shortcomings is.
The commendations, notwithstanding, analysts and a considerable chunk of PDP members are convinced, more than ever before, that the time for Atiku to anoint someone as his political successor should be right now.
Remarkably, however, only a handful of PDP members are tabling this succession plan before Atiku, or voicing the need for it publicly.
Another talking point amongst these members is their argument that Atiku should bury his ambition as he no longer qualifies to be the “unifier” he touts himself as.
“PDP will set up a government of national unity. It is one of the ways to unite this country.
“Every section or geo-political zone will be carried along in appointments in every sector,” Atiku was quoted as saying in the build up to the last presidential election.
The unflattering angle here is that since the election, Atiku has not been able to unify those in his party.
The crisis in the PDP had its beginnings in 2022 when a former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike and four other governors, known as the G5, revolted against the leadership of the party.
And to this day, the party’s woes have continued as its trial by error approach to addressing the issues plaguing it have been firing blanks.
As if this is not enough, the PDP is also currently enmeshed in a leadership crisis that has lingered more than should be permitted.
So, amid moves and counter-moves to oust the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, it seems Atiku is bereft of a permanent solution to the quandary the PDP finds itself.
The gulf between governors elected under the platform of the PDP is also widening and to make matters worse, the party’s National Working Committee is in tatters, as legal disputes involving the office of the National Secretary deepens the division within the party’s NWC.
Whether Atiku anointing someone as his successor will be the game changer that addresses the crisis in the party, a seasoned political analyst, Reginald Anene, said, “Atiku will not anoint a successor. He sees becoming president as his birthright.
“In fact, immediately after the results of the last election were announced, someone said Atiku was going to run again but some of us thought that was the last, considering that he will be 80 when the next election comes up.
“We were shocked when a couple of months later, the man’s body language was showing that he was going to run again.”
Anene added that even if Atiku was to anoint someone as his successor, it would be difficult to do so because no politician in the PDP has “name recognition and structure.”
“To be honest with you, looking at the PDP platform, who is the leading light in the party?
“You see, running for an election is not just about having money to throw around. Do you have name recognition? Do you have the structure? As it stands now, in the PDP, only Atiku has got the structure all over the federation, he has got the financial might. He has got the connection.
“Perhaps, another person who has something very close is Wike, but I don’t think Wike will ever support a PDP candidate in the next election.
“If Atiku for example runs with Obi in 2027, the chances that he would win are higher than for anybody else from the South. But are the southerners ready to have a Northern president again for another four years and then have a PO to succeed him?”
“So, Atiku has looked at the PDP. He has scanned the whole field and he feels there’s no one capable of receiving his blessing.
“(Bukola) Saraki is almost nowhere to be found. There’s not a single PDP person as we speak now nationally that has got the capacity and can go toe to toe with Tinubu.
“Let’s even continue to scan the landscape for the PDP.
“They do not have any outstanding governor, they do not have an outstanding ex-Minister, as it stands, I don’t see anybody (in the PDP) who can give Atiku a run for his money, except Atiku himself says he doesn’t want to run.”
A former Commissioner for Digital Economy in Edo State and PDP chieftain, Ogbeide Ifaluyi-Isibor says no matter the different permutations of what the opposition must do to get rid of the APC, Atiku should not run for office in 2027.
He said, “2027 is a very tough conversation to have. Number one, the people (APC) that are there now cannot continue and there’s a lot of scheming going on how we (the opposition) can get rid of them.
“And one of them is that only an alliance of some sort with the North and having a Northern candidate can get rid of those who are there now.
“There’s another school of thought that suggests that the South must complete its eight years first before power can shift back to the North.
“People are asking: if that is going to be the case, who then from the South can be picked to contest against Tinubu that will defeat him and would then do another four years to complete the turn of the South?
“Then a third school of thought says Atiku remains the only person who the North can rally round and he will promise to do four years only, and after doing so, he can handover to a likely Peter Obi who had run as his Vice president.
“But for me personally, and to be very honest, I don’t think that Atiku should run again for office and as amazing as he may be, I think his age, in my view, disqualifies him.
“Now I would rather have a younger person run for office and lead Nigeria.
“However if by all our permutations (third school of thought) appears to be the best decision to set Nigeria back on the course for prosperity, I don’t mind anything that can be done to change the people at the centre.
“But my default pick will be Peter Obi by all means, and I’m hoping he comes back to the PDP and gets someone very vibrant and active in the North to be his Vice President, but again that has its own pros and cons.”
Ifaluyi-Isibor added that Obi merits being anointed as Atiku’s successor because with him, Atiku has a better chance of winning the 2027 presidential election than with anybody else from the South.
“If Atiku for example runs with Obi in 2027, the chances that he would win are higher than for anybody else from the South. But are the southerners ready to have a Northern president again for another four years and then have a PO to succeed him?
“If that appears to be the only way to remove these people at the centre, I think that as a politician whatever we can do to get rid of the people at the centre, I will endorse.
“But then it has to make sense to the generality of Nigerians,” Ifaluyi-Isibor concluded. ...Read Full Article >>➤
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