Although a
thick cloud of uncertainty is still hanging over President Muhammadu Buhari’s
second term ambition, no fewer than four strong contenders of Northern
extraction are now jostling for the coveted seat, trying to build bridges
across the geo-political zones of the country ahead of the next general
elections. These include: former vice president Atiku Abubakar, erstwhile
governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, his counterpart in Kano State, Rabiu
Kwankwaso and former National Security Adviser to the late Head of State Gen
Sani Abacha, Hamzah Al-Mustapha.
It is no
longer news that Atiku is still nursing the ambition to rule this country. He
has been in the race since 2007 and his body language still gives a clear
impression that his eyes are still very much on the exalted seat.
In several
of his outings in the recent past, he had thrown up different controversies on
some national issues, which seem to suggest that he is not on the same page
with the present administration. For instance, at the recent launch of a
newspaper publication in Abuja, he was quoted as saying: “Controversies have sometimes threatened the
very existence of our country. The country is truly at a crossroads and things
are made worse by the cocktail of economic, social and political problems which
we have had to contend with.”
“Poor GDP
growth rate, millions of school age children, out of school – I believe with
the right kind of leadership, the right kind of vision, we can transform this
country in less than eight years.” He has also remained a consistent advocate
of restructuring, which some people believe is a subtle way to woo like minds
from the southern part of the country.
It is,
however, not yet clear on which platform he is going to actualize his dream.
Though a founding member of the ruling APC, there are strong indications that
the former number two citizen might eventually settle for the presidential
ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the event that Buhari decides
to go for the race or anoint a particular candidate. The former vice-president
had left the PDP twice. Following the power play and intrigues between him and
his former boss in the build up to the 2007 general elections; he ditched the
PDP and ran against the late president Musa Umar Yar’Adua on the platform of
the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He was initially disqualified by the
Independent National Electoral Commission over an alleged financial misconduct
by an investigative panel of inquiry set up by Obasanjo. It took the
intervention of the Supreme Court to allow him to contest the 2007
election. He also contested the
presidential ticket of the APC against Buhari in 2015, but was defeated.
Perhaps,
preempting what may happen, if the APC denies him the ticket, Atiku is now said
to be holding talks with the leaders of the PDP for the presidential ticket.
For this move, Sunday Sun gathered that he may have to contend with former
governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, who, according to a reliable source, had
already intimated all the 36 state chairmen of the party of his presidential
ambition. “As a party, our door is open to any of our old members. But I can
assure you that we won’t make the mistake of giving the ticket of our party to
someone whom we cannot trust. With due respect to former vice president Atiku
Abubakar, Lamido has been a consistent member of our party. I am saying this
without prejudice to Atiku’s role as a founding member as well as his
formidable structure, the source told Sunday Sun.
Beyond the
issue of platform, Atiku has been meeting prominent political, traditional and
religious leaders across the country in the past couple of months as a way to
re-engineer his formidable structure. For instance, in the South-south, there
is an insinuation about his alleged romance with ex-governor James Ibori, who
just regained his freedom from a United Kingdom, UK prison. This speculation
followed his recent visit to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources,
FUPRE, in the company of Chief Ayirimi Emami, a strong loyalist of James Ibori.
Atiku and
Ibori are no strange bedfellows. Both had opposed the second term ambition of
former president Obasanjo before other governors intervened and prevailed on
Atiku to step down from seeking for the presidential ticket of the Peoples
Democratic Party in 2003.
Atiku’s
spokesperson, Paul Ibe, while speaking with Sunday Sun neither denied nor
confirmed the speculation. He, however, insisted that his boss remained
committed to the success of the Buhari administration, adding that it was too
early to begin to talk about the 2019 elections. His words: “The reality is
that right now, his Excellency is still pre-occupied with providing support to
the Buhari administration.
His
commitment is to see how his government can overcome the current socio-economic
challenges facing us as a nation. There is a mandate already. That mandate
might have gone half way, but it is still a mandate. Being a former vice
president, there are things he can do to help the present government. Besides,
he is a loyal party man. So, I cannot confirm to you all the speculations about
his presidential ambition. At the same time, I will not want to dismiss the
speculations in the media as a figment of imagination of some people because
the media have to take a global outlook.”
He dismissed
insinuation about Atiku’s alleged romance with the PDP, saying: “How can he be
a member of the APC and then be holding talks with PDP? People can say all
sorts of things. But I am telling you that it is not true. As I am talking to
you now, he is a member of APC. After he lost the ticket to President Muhammadu
Buhari, he committed his assets to helping him and he has continued to support
him. As I said, his commitment is to help the president succeed.”
Unlike his
other contenders, former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has not
hidden his desire to contest the 2019 presidential race. One striking thing
about Lamido’s ambition is that he is not thinking of any alternative platform
to actualise his dream in spite of the leadership challenges confronting the
PDP. As a founding member, he believes very strongly that the party would
overcome its current crisis and give APC a good fight in the next general
elections. His optimism derives from the fact that the Jigawa State chapter of
the party remains very strong and intact even in the face of the leadership
tussle at the national level.
Perhaps, one
issue Lamido may have to contend with as he pursues his ambition is the alleged
move by Atiku to stage a comeback in PDP. While Atiku had dumped the party twice
for alternative platforms in the previous elections, Lamido has remained a
consistent supporter of the party. But some analysts say the latter’s
formidable structure could throw Lamido’s calculation off the guard. Somehow,
he might have put Atiku on the defensive with the rapport he had already built
with all the 36 state chairmen of the PDP ahead of other aspirants.
Lamido,
exuding confidence in an exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, expressed
optimism that PDP would bounce back in full force. “The PDP may have crisis at
the national level, but the truth of the matter is that the structure of the
party is still very intact at various state levels. Already, I have met with
the 36 state chairmen of our party and intimated them of my ambition. And I can
assure you that with the PDP platform, I will beat Buhari and the APC in 2019”,
he said.
Former Kano
State governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is also not leaving any stone
unturned in his aspiration to govern the country. In 2015, he contested the
presidential ticket of the APC against President Buhari and emerged the second
leading candidate. Ahead of the 2019 election, Sunday Sun gathered that he had
put structures in place across the 36 states of the federation.
Interestingly,
back at home, Kwankwaso has been having a running battle with his former deputy
who is now the governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. The alleged frosty
relationship between him and the governor has been seen by many as a handiwork
of the cabal in the presidency who feels that there is a need to decimate his
political following ahead of the 2019 Presidential election to forestall a
repeat of what happened in 2015 primaries held at Onikan Stadium in Lagos. But
while Kwankwaso’s political structure, the Kwankwasiyya, which he had
established before the 2011 general elections has been literally routed in the
face of the lingering face off, his network has expanded to other states of the
federation with effective coordinators on ground.
The puzzle
remains: what platform is he going to actualise his ambition. For now, he has
not hinted of an alternative platform to actualise his ambition. With all permutations, it will be much easier
for the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of the needle than him
pickling the ticket of the APC. This is regardless of whether or not President
Buhari is running for a second term.
Though a new
entrant into the presidential race, Al-Mustapha has been busy meeting relevant
interest groups across the states of the federation preparatory to the former
declaration of his presidential ambition for the 2019 elections.
A source
close to the former NSA told Sunday Sun that Green Party of Nigeria had already
been registered as a platform to actualise his ambition, adding that response
so far has been very encouraging.
“Although it
is a new party, one of our strategies is to woo aggrieved supporters of the
leading political parties. For now, we have been busy with grassroots
mobilisation. And the response we are getting has been quite overwhelming,” a
source who did not want his name mentioned in print told Sunday Sun.
There are
also unconfirmed reports that the Zamfara State Governor, Abdullaziz Abubakar
Yari is also in pole position to go for the plum job.
Yari is said
to be deploying his position as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum,
NGF, to great advantage, through certain moves and strategies that have
endeared him to colleagues.
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