PUNCH NG - The
invitation extended to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, by the All
Progressives Congress and the appointment of Adamu Mu’azu as national
chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, appears to have put the
famed political strategist in a fix, writes OLUSOLA FABIYI.
A former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar,
is not a new swimmer in the Nigeria’s murky political waters. He has
been in politics for long enough to know how unpredictable Nigerian
politicians could be.
Followers of history would recall how
Atiku was forced out of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party by his
former boss, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, prior to the 2007
presidential election. Desirous of a shot at the Presidency, Atiku
teamed up with politicians in the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria,
where he was handed the party’s ticket.
He lost the final contest to late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who was the candidate of the PDP.
As the race for the 2011 presidential election drew nearer, Atiku dumped the ACN and returned to the PDP.
He was accommodated and allowed to contest for the party’s presidential ticket. This did not happen without drama.
When it dawned on the northern elders
that President Goodluck Jonathan was keen on contesting the party’s
primaries, they called on their sons to invoke an unwritten power
rotation agreement in an attempt to stop Jonathan. They were schooled on
the need to have a sole candidate who would slug it out with Jonathan
at Eagles Square, Abuja for the PDP’s sole ticket.
Among northerners who showed interest in
the race were a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; a
former National Security Adviser, Gen. Muhammad Gusau; a former Governor
of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki; and Atiku. The northern elders, led by a
former Minister of Finance, Adamu Ciroma, met and perused the
credentials of all the aspirants. That of Atiku suited them most. Thus,
he became the anointed candidate of the group.
Atiku must have been surprised to learn
that despite his seeming popularity among fellow northerners who chose
him ahead of other contenders from the zone, this did not translate
into victory during the presidential primaries.
When the Returning Officer for the PDP
Presidential primaries, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, announced the results,
Atiku, who is considered a master strategist in Nigeria’s political
circles, lost woefully.
According to Adeniran, 3,542 delegates
voted. Jonathan received the highest number of votes—2,736—representing
78 per cent of the total votes cast while Atiku came a distant second
with 805 votes.
The third contestant, Mrs. Sarah Jubril,
received only one vote which pre-supposes that she was the only person
who voted for herself, 61 votes were voided.
Many northerners who wanted one of their
own on the saddle faulted Atiku’s return to the PDP at the time. Many
believed that if he had remained in the ACN, he would probably have been
the party’s sole candidate for the 2011 presidential election.
However, the ACN was accused of being a
sectional party at the time with its sphere of influence confined to the
South-West geo-political zone. A lot has changed since then. The
decision of the party’s leaders to team up with other opposition
political parties such as the Congress for Progressive Change and the
All Nigeria Peoples Party to form the All Progressives Congress has not
only enlarged its coast, it has empowered it to pose a significant
threat to the dominance of the ruling PDP.
Herein lays Atiku’s dilemma. The APC
delegation led by its Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, felt
the Turakin Adamawa still has a lot to offer in terms of political
capital. Akande and his team pointedly asked Atiku to leave the PDP and
join their fold.
Ever the strategist, Atiku had asked his guests for time to consult his friends and associates before making a commitment.
He said, “I have given them an indication
that I will call a meeting of all my stakeholders across the country
and we will take a decision and tell the press.”
Roll call of the delegation at the parley
include; a former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu; Governor of
Borno State, Ibrahim Shettima; a former Speaker of House of
Representatives, Bello Masari; Senator George Akume, a former minister
of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, a former chairman of
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu and Senator
Kabiru Gaya.
Akande said the party decided to meet
Atiku, against the background that “our country is being rubbished; we
feel that it is necessary to meet people of like minds to rise up and
salvage the country. All of us that met here were comrades in politics
from time to time, we only met today to cement that comradeship, and all
is well cemented and we are moving together to work for this country.”
Atiku recalled that he and some of the
members of the delegation had been in politics together for about
24years. He said,“It is time we realise we have responsibility to our
generation and those yet unborn.”
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