Atiku’s many political adventures

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from which he defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress (AP), said he would eventually return into its fold. Minister of Information Labaran Maku described him, along with others, as a political nomad “who keep migrating from one place to another.” Indeed, since the defection by former vice president […]

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from which he defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress (AP), said he would eventually return into its fold. Minister of Information Labaran Maku described him, along with others, as a political nomad “who keep migrating from one place to another.” Indeed, since the defection by former vice president Atiku Abubakar it has continued to generate mixed reactions.
This is the second time Atiku would be dumping the ruling PDP in about eight years. As was one of the first five notable Nigerians who formed the PDP in 1998, as said by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Atiku contested and won the governorship of his home state of Adamawa in 1999, before the then PDP presidential candidate, former President Olusegun Obasanjo chose him as his running mate in the presidential polls. He served as Obasanjo’s deputy from 1999 to 2007.   
However, Atiku’s desire to succeed Obasanjo as President in 2007 backfired, as his then boss wedged a spirited battle against him, resulting in his denial of the PDP presidential nomination ticket, in favour of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who eventually won.
Atiku shifted camp to the defunct Action Congress (AC), also the main opposition party of the time which he helped to set up and won its presidential ticket for the 2007 presidential race. He eventually lost.
To add to Atiku’s many troubles, attempts to retrieve the mandate he alleged was stolen from the court also met a brick wall and he resigned to fate.  The Turaki Adamawa ended up returning to the PDP, which he had dumped in his quest for the presidency of Nigeria in 2009.
“We later returned to that party [PDP] in 2009 when a new leadership of the party and the country promised a new direction, a direction of inclusiveness, of internal democracy, of an end to impunity, adherence to the rule of law and respect for the dignity of members and Nigerians”, Atiku said in a recent statement on eve of his defection to the APC.
Nevertheless, Atiku never rested his presidential quest and in 2011, he faced incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan to compete for PDP’s presidential ticket for the 2011 race. Jonathan had succeeded Yar’Adua following the latter’s demise and was in power for nearly two years.
Even in this second attempt, Atiku failed to grab his party’s presidential nomination ticket. He polled 805 votes from 3, 542 delegates of the convention; while President Jonathan scored 2, 736 votes to floor him. While Jonathan’s backers hailed the delegates election as free and fair, Atiku cried foul, alleging several malfeasance in the electoral process which he said was skewed in favor of Jonathan.
Hints that Jonathan may not have a cordial relationship with Atiku manifested in 2012 during the party’s national convention to elect the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) members. Jonathan’s support and enthronement of the now ousted former PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, against all odds, including his rejection by the North East Zone of the party angered Atiku’s camp.
In the estimation of the Atiku camp, Jonathan’s routing for Bamanga, who hails from the same Adamawa State with Atiku, was a tacit way of edging him out of the 2015 presidential race under the PDP. They argued that with Bamanga as chairman, it was natural that the party would not concede both its national chairmanship seat and presidential ticket to same zone or state.
The smouldering crisis within the PDP soon come to fore, when a court nullified the election of some members of the PDP NWC. It compelled the party to organize a mini-national convention in August 2013 to fill the vacant positions. The convention ended on a rowdy note, as speeches by Jonathan and his die-hard supporters irked Atiku and his camp, who led seven PDP incumbent governors and hordes of other supporters to walk out of the convention in protest.
It marked the beginning of the open crisis in the PDP, which became factionalised leading to the formation of the New PDP under the leadership of Alhaji Kawu Baraje. The faction cited several abnormities in the PDP such as lack of internal democracy, imposition of candidates, disrespect for the rule of law, impunity and hordes of other ills as bedeviling the party. Efforts to resolve the crisis by PDP’s national leadership failed. It eventually led to the defection to the APC of at least five of the governors, who walked out of the convention and formed the nPDP. 
The movement of the five governors into APC, which was followed by 37 PDP House of Reps members as well as Senators, bolstered the opposition APC. Encouraged by this feat, Atiku mulled with the idea of defecting to the APC, following his invitation to join the party by APC national leadership and top chieftains of the party.
Atiku disclosed to stakeholders and loyalists at the  North East  consultative meeting in Bauchi, which ended the series  that his parley with them was prompted by  the recent visit of the APC leadership to him  and  who  invited  him to join the party  to salvage  Nigeria’s   democracy.
“You are the foot soldiers who will get the votes. You are central in our political process, and that is why I have to come and consult with you in helping me to take perhaps the most difficult decision of my political life”, Atiku said in Bauchi.
Atiku referred to the decision as difficult because the PDP where he belonged had sidelined him since Jonathan came on board.
Grievances Atiku nursed against the PDP were that although a BOT member by right, the NWC does not invite him for their meetings and so he does not attend.
He said he is also a NEC member by right under the constitution of the PDP, but he has been barred from its meetings because invitations are not extended to him.
“By the norms of the party, he is entitled to invitation to its caucus. Dr. Alex Ekwueme, a former Vice President gets those invitations. Atiku gets none of those”, a source said.
While announcing his defection to the APC, Atiku said: “Following the extensive consultative process, I have, therefore, decided to cast my lot with APC, a party of change committed to the improvement of the lives of our people and to the continued existence and development of Nigeria as one indivisible country. My resignation letter as a member of PDP will be delivered to the party tomorrow.”
The former Vice President performed the public defection to the APC ceremony a few days back, in Yola, capital of Adamawa State. But Atiku’s action has sent various reverberations in the polity across the country.
A political observer Yakubu Saidu said the defection of Atiku from the PDP to the  APC can go both ways. “From Atiku political history, he seems to be a man determined to get what he wants.  I think it is too early for the APC to celebrate. If Atiku can dump the party he helped to build, it may not be difficult to do worse to a party he joined mid way.”
Though, the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu on assumption of duty, has been restless, pleading with aggrieved PDP members who defected to the APC to come back, the party’s Deputy National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus said the latest move by Atiku is not a loss to the PDP and urged members of the party not to panic over the recent spate of defection that hit the party.
Also speaking on the defection to the APC of former PDP members, Minister of Information, Labaran Maku described the former Vice President as a political nomad who had the penchant of being inconsistent, and always moving from one party to the other. He dismissed the defectors as too full of their ego and troublemakers.
But across the country, the APC, which is the main beneficiary of PDP’s albatross, is celebrating the defectors in the party’s fold, especially, the entry of Atiku. Party chieftains insist that the PDP is missing their absence.
“The people in PDP are missing us and so they are wishing and dreaming every day that we shall come back. For us we belong to the progressives and until a politician finds himself or herself in a particular society where he or she belongs he will not rest,” Kawu Baraje asserted in a recent interview with Weekly Trust in Ilorin.
A former Senator and APC chieftain, Chief Joseph Waku said “If Atiku’s dumping of the PDP for APC is insignificant, why is the PDP crying that he left? We in the APC are very happy that he has come. In politics, every vote is important and Atiku’s journey into the APC means much more than one vote. He has millions of votes from the supporters he has pulled along with him. He is a dogged fighter, a grassroots mobilizer and a politician of repute and the APC having him now is a great booster.”
Garba Shehu said his boss ditching the PDP has sent shockwaves to the presidency.  “In the last two days, the President has called his own strategic team and talked to them seriously on why they should allow one man (Atiku) to dominate political discussion for over 48 hours and two weeks. What are you people doing with all the resources at your disposal? So, the challenge is to build a political party that can challenge the PDP,” he said.
“There are some who attacked him on the social media. But our happiness is the preponderance of those who are positive. Atiku’s capacity for mobilisation is legendary, he is a party builder. He was among the five persons who formed the PDP, he was the one who bought the Wadata House for the PDP. Nobody doubts his capacity in organisation and political mobilisation. I think Atiku’s undoing has been that the country has never really had or agreed to have free and fair elections, whether it is party primaries or general elections. But people are learning, they are joining the party that is bringing the largest number of people. So, the value can be in number of people, in capacity and even the courage to face government in power”.
In Atiku’s home state of Adamawa, his political associates are not only happy with his new political direction, but are also optimistic of huge impact to the APC with his presence.
An Atiku associate, Boss Mustafa said the former VP is determined to make a lot of sacrifices to ensure the success of the party, adding his defection was primarily driven by his presidential ambition.
He dismissed thoughts that his defection would ignite rivalry between himself and other stakeholders in the party. He said, Atiku has since forged understanding with all the major blocks in the party, describing him as a progressive by political orientation, who is now in the right camp.
Mustafa countenanced fears that the influence of the national chairman of the PDP, Ahmad Muazu who is from the same North east zone with Atiku will affect his political impact in the zone.
“Muazu himself is a beneficiary of Atiku’s political structure. If you know how Atiku fought to ensure Muazu was reelected for second term as governor, you will understand his popularity and influence. His supporters from every part of Nigeria will decamp to APC”.
Also,  chairman,  Jada Local Government Area which is the home constituency of  Atiku, Adamu Jikan Sarki believes  the former Vice President as well as other stakeholders of the APC could easily harmonize their interests without rancor, because of they are recent victims  of  the PDP weird politics.
Secretary of Door-2-Door Movement in Adamawa State, Abdullahi Danlami Adamu said the fact that Atiku has served as a peace maker between  various groups signify  the value  he is bringing  to his new party, the APC.
From Kano, Atiku’s sojourn into the APC is perceived as homecoming, because it is a state which has always supported his political aspirations. But there are skepticisms in some quarters that the entry of the state governor, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso into the APC presidential race may sway the support from Atiku.
A cross section of politicians in the state, who welcomed Atiku’s defection, however, cautioned him against contesting the presidency in 2015.
A frontline APC member in Kano state, Abdulmajid Danbiliki Kwamanda said the former vice president is a versatile politician, who would add value to the success of the APC in the country.
“As we all know, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is a versatile and an all-round politician. I know him right from late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua days and he was very close to him. His coming to APC will boost the party’s chances to wrestle power from PDP.
“But he was among the people that put us in this mess we find ourselves in the country, especially in the North. He had the opportunity, but he did not utilize it for the benefit of the masses in the North. I think he came to APC for change so that he can correct his previous mistakes and not to contest. If he is contesting, we will not support him,” he said in a phone interview.
Kano state governor, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso said the defection of Atiku to APC shows that the party has a bright future.
“Alhaji Atiku’s coming is a welcome development. He is a political bigwig that any party will be happy to have him in its fold”, he said.
Similarly, Secretary of Niger state chapter of the APC, Kabir Abbas described the defection of former Vice President to the party as a great development capable of brightening the chances of APC to wrestle power from the PDP in 2015, both at the center and states levels.
He said the coming on board of the political heavyweight did not only add numerical strength to the party, but also indicated how anxious people are distancing themselves from the PDP.
Abbas said Atiku is a known political crowd-puller, who did not only join the APC as an individual but with clans of his supporters from all over the country.
On whether he is comfortable with the coming of Atiku into the party considering his past record of defections, Abbas said “we will take the former Vice President by his word where he said, he did not join APC for seeking power.”
For former Minister of Youth Development, Barrister Inuwa Abdulkadir who is the Chairman Interim Executive Committee of APC, Sokoto State, the defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to the APC is a good tiding and a big plus for the party. 
He said it is a  good sign  of the prospects of the APC in  not just  winning the 2015 elections,  but in  becoming a very strong voice from now up to 2015 in determining the political fate of this country.
“I think it is very remarkable, the defection of the former vice President to APC.  It is not just because he was former vice president, but the reckoning of Atiku Abubakar in Nigerian politics cannot be underestimated”, he said.
Another APC stalwart in the state, Ibrahim Adamu Tudun Doki described Atiku Abubakar’s defection to the APC as a big plus.
“Atiku is well known political figure who knows his onions. He is a good politician and knows how to play politics. Also, as somebody with the kind of political structures across the country, it is a very big achievement for APC.”
Also, in Nasarawa State, political associates of the former Vice President are optimistic that Atiku’s defection to APC will fetch the opposition political party enormous fortunes in 2015. Interestingly, his associates in Nasarawa have been foundation members of the APC as they had long dumped the PDP.
Alhaji Abdullahi Igbo, who served as coordinator of Atiku’s campaign in 2011, said as soon as Atiku lost at the primary, he (Igbo) dumped the PDP, for the defunct CPC, a legacy party of the APC.
Also, state chairman of the APC, Stanley Buba, hailed the coming on board of Atiku, whose political measurement he described as “heavyweight”, saying “it is a done deal already with Atiku’s coming. He is the people’s magnet.”
Former Chairman of CPC and member of the APC Interim Management Committee in Kaduna state Alhaji Amadu Yaro Coca-Cola said the defection of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to the APC was a ‘morale booster’ to APC loyalists and more people will follow in same direction.
“Atiku is a political warrior not only in northern Nigeria,  but in the whole country and we are happy to receive him in our  party. He has a large followership and the ability to coordinate his ‘followers.’ So, we are hopeful that all his supporters will join us soon and this will further cement the relationship between party members.”
He said  Atiku’s generation would  not  have forgive him if he had not ditched the PDP. And his people will continue to applaud his decision to leave PDP because he has the interest of Nigeria at heart and he has joined people who are willing to bring a positive change.