Since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the time table for the 2023 general elections, the words and deeds of the former Vice President and Waziri Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, seem to scare and throw some politicians off balance. This development tends to support the belief that when Atiku sneezes, the ambitious politicians eyeing the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket, their cronies and lackeys catch sudden cold.
This was particularly what transpired penultimate Sunday when the former Vice President was in Abeokuta. On Sunday, February 27, 2022, His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar paid a courtesy call on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
After the courtesy call, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar granted interview to the press where he was asked some pointed questions on when he would declare his intention, whether he was confident to get the PDP presidential ticket and, lastly, the issue of age, that younger people should be given the chance now. He responded appropriately and yet some disgruntled elements and rabble-rousers did not take kindly to his honest responses.
The first outburst and utter expression of treachery came from the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who visibly took offence, was dismayed and saddened by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s responses: “Have I ever failed to get the ticket?” and “Let the youths compete now; it’s competition; it’s democracy.”
The Rivers State Governor felt Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was wrong to have uttered such statement at this crucial time because of the alleged controversies surrounding the PDP presidential ticket. He also stated that the former Vice President’s statement could amount to taking the convention delegates for granted.
Governor Wike was irked that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has gone too far with such statement and never expected a politician of his status to make such claim on the ground that it is capable of causing chaos and dividing the party.
The Rivers State Governor is one of the politicians rooting for southern presidency in 2023 and nursing presidential ambition. He revealed that the outcome of the PDP presidential primaries will shock many. As a novice and neophyte in the political arena, I will advise Governor Wike to tread with utmost care as the political terrain is laden with landmines.
The second disgruntled element to make insinuations to malign the former Vice President and cast him in bad light is Prince Kassim Afegbua, a Peoples’ Democratic Party member from the South-South. In a statement, he said: “I read with dismay the statement credited to former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, where he boasted that he would always get the presidential ticket of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP. At a time when the former Vice President should be working towards strengthening the structures of the party for more electoral victories, the only thing that bothers him is all about his selfish aspiration.”
Prince Kassim Afegbua added: “The fact of the matter is that it is the turn of the southern part of Nigeria to produce the candidate of the PDP in 2023. Anything short of that will amount to usurping the opportunity, position and chance of the southern axis to produce the party’s candidate. That will be a direct assault on our collective sensibilities.
“In 2023, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should be thinking of how to support younger Nigerians from the South of the country to pursue the presidential aspiration of the opposition party.”
Both Governor Wike and Prince Afegbua are engaged in intense campaigns for power shift to the southern part of Nigeria. We do not begrudge them, although both of them are irked by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s media parley in Abeokuta. Atiku did not say anything new; he only reiterated that politics is an open contest that should embrace everybody; not restrict anybody. Anyone making such call is canvassing for opportunities for all and sundry. This is Atiku’s stand and it is what many fail to understand and appreciate. It is also what is making Governor Wike and Prince Afegbua rage and rave unabatedly.
The 2023 general elections will be open to eligible Nigerians; everyone interested is free to seek both party tickets and mandate of the electorate without discrimination. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar supports this position and is working relentlessly to broaden the path to power.
However, this has not prevented him from working assiduously to solicit the support and cooperation of Nigerians from the nooks and crannies of the country. That is why in his latest move, he had consultative meetings with members of the National Assembly who gave him overwhelming support.
PIONEER NEWS 