The problem with Atiku’s candidature

Efforts geared towards returning to power by all means possible come 2023 were one of the reasons Atiku Abubakar emerged as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  Close to that was Atiku’s well-known desperation to become the president of Nigeria. Since 2003, it is public knowledge that he nurses the ambition. He […]

Efforts geared towards returning to power by all means possible come 2023 were one of the reasons Atiku Abubakar emerged as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  Close to that was Atiku’s well-known desperation to become the president of Nigeria. Since 2003, it is public knowledge that he nurses the ambition. He left no one in doubt about where he stands as he works assiduously to achieve his aim. That ambition ruined his relationship with ex-president Obasanjo, who he worked with as vice president from 1999-2007. Since 2007, Atiku has flown the flag of one party or the other to fulfill this life-long ambition.  

The Peoples Democratic Party has not recovered from its back to back loss to the All Progress Congress (APC) in 2015 and the 2019 elections. Thus, it must strategically position itself to win. The party envisages the emergence of an APC southern presidential candidate. Therefore, fielding Atiku, who is from the north, was a calculated attempt to capitalise on the goodwill and the huge number of northern electorate to emerge victorious. Atiku they assume has the war chest to contend with any candidate of APC and the incumbent factor.  

But PDP has forgotten so soon that it was its leaders and members who partly left the country in this current sorry state. They are simply after retaining power and everything associated with it except putting food on the tables of Nigerians.  

A new set of political order has emerged and must be urgently enthroned. And Nigerians have now come to the realisation that the new order does not require the imprimatur of those who created the problem to become effective. Nigerian people are ready to take back their country from political hawks whose only enterprise is politics and politicking. The consciousness of the majority is awakened to the sad reality of our tragedy as a nation. People are paying attention to what a contestant brings to the table. The quality of services he intends to render and problem -initiatives at his disposal.  

Sai Baba or vote for me for progress is no longer the ideal political situation. The character of contestants will bear testimony for or against them. So also is the measure of previous representation for any contestant seeking re-election. Their political association with people who kept the nation comatose and the roles politicians play are up against them.  

The problem with Atiku’s candidature is the greatest undoing of the PDP in the next election. One factor working against Atiku is his old age. Like Tinubu, both are spent forces whose ability to govern effectively is called to question. The rightful position for him at the moment is a statesman. Let him allow younger generations to slug it out in the field of politics.  

The betrayal of South East – a region which stood by PDP through thick and thin but denied at a time it is said to be their turn is a price the party has to pay very dearly.    

The eight years tenure of the north will elapse in 2023 and it is inconceivable for another northern president to continue where APC woefully stopped.  

The PDP presidential primary election has come and gone. It is assumed that the opposition party is now poised to wrestle power from the ruling APC after seven years in the lurch. However, the rancour and animosity that characterised the convention will take so much application of balm to heal. The party’s deliberate refusal to abide by the zoning agreement is one sour point that will affect the performance of the party.  

Sunday Onyemaechi Eze wrote via [email protected]