Buhari, Atiku and Kwankwaso
In this piece, JOHN ALECHENU x-rays the upcoming presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress and posits that as the race for the party ticket approaches a climax, the party’s fortunes are tied to its outcome
Barring any last minute changes, in exactly one week from today, Wednesday December 10, 2014 to be precise, the opposition All Progressives Congress will unveil its presidential candidate.
This, fact, is not lost to some of the contenders in the race for the ticket.
For more than a decade, members of the opposition tried but failed to come together to form a formidable challenge to the political behemoth which the ruling Peoples Democratic Party has come to represent.
For the first time in recent political memory, this jinx was broken with the formation of the APC from the ashes of what used to be the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigerian Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change, not forgetting a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.
The personal ambitions of individual party leaders were suspended as opposition leaders appeared determined to build a platform to wrest power from the ruling party.
Keen observers of the new party were aware of the fact that some of these leaders joined the merger based on certain assurances.
The most outstanding of these leaders are Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
In fact, Buhari, a serial presidential candidate under the defunct ANPP and later the CPC, was said to have been convinced to join in the formation of the APC based on an understanding that he will be handed the ticket.
For a while, most of his supporters especially those within the party, were under the impression that the party’s ticket was his for the taking.
Atiku, on his part, was assured of a level playing field to take another shot at the presidential race.
National publicity secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, however, argues that the interest shown by these Nigerians and the fact that there will be a primary was proof that neither the party nor its leadership had any hidden agenda.
He said, “Our candidate will emerge via a credible, transparent process which will show to the entire world that the APC values internal democracy and is committed to setting an example for other parties to learn from.”
Buhari’s supporters remain upbeat and appear not to have given up hope that GMB – as they like to call their benefactor, will emerge victorious. Their hope is buoyed by the fact that he has, since 2003, rode on his charisma and mass appeal to secure party tickets. His supporters often cite his impressive showing during the 2011 Presidential elections to buttress their point. One of his most vocal supporters, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said this much. Okechukwu said, “We have seen that the connection between him and the middle class and the masses of this country is unparalleled. He has a bond between the masses of this country and the middle class and that kind of bond generated 12 million votes in 2011 in a micro Congress for Progressive Change, a small CPC, now we have a broader political party – the APC. I think all we need to do is to compliment and supplement the 12 million votes.”
He, like most of Buhari’s disciples, also allude to what they argue is his cult-like following, especially in northern Nigeria to canvass for a consensus ticket for their benefactor.
This, perhaps, explains the slow start of the ‘Meet the delegates’ tour’ by Buhari.
However, politics being what it is, most often than not, develops a life of its own. A slight change of plans can alter agreements and turn permutations on their heads.
Some pundits argue that the entry of Atiku into the APC did just that. Atiku, whose supporters, say has to his credit, years of experience in the murky waters of Nigerian politics, altered earlier calculations, forcing party leaders to return to the drawing board.
It is now obvious that the politics of ‘anointment’ which was the practice in some of the legacy parties can no longer gain currency.
Although article 20(1) of the APC constitution provides for the emergence of a candidate through a consensus agreement, the party resolved to choose its candidates via indirect primaries. This model had a successful test run during the botched Adamawa governorship by-election.
The decision did not come easy. Influential party members pushed for a consensus candidate without success as the number of aspirants grew. The N27.5m price tag for the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms did not deter the four who have so far showed interest in the contest.
Four persons – Buhari, Atiku, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and the publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah, have so far purchased, filled and returned their forms.
However, some observers are of the view that the race is slowly but surely becoming a two-horse race between Buhari and Atiku.
To those in this school of thought, activities in the campaigns of the two so far show them to be in a better position to clinch the ticket. This is not, however, to say that Kwankwaso and Nda-Isaiah can simply be wished away.
It has since dawned on Buhari supporters that apart from the ex-Head-of-State’s strength of character, which they often use as capital, they would require funding to run a successful campaign first for the ticket and then for the race, if he gets nominated.
To address this challenge, the Buhari Support Organisation launched an appeal for public support for his cause. The appeal was launched with barely three weeks to the primaries.
Director of Publicity of BSO, Dr. Chidia Madukwe, spoke glowingly about this initiative. He said, “Every second, some money is being paid into (the) account by concerned Nigerians. That shows you how hopeful Nigerians have become at the prospect of a possible Buhari presidency. We want to say that if people believe in General Buhari as the arrowhead of the change we so deserve, then, they will be willing to make their contribution.
“So, having borrowed money to buy his form, we have set up a platform that can provide money to pay back that loan and, indeed, fund his campaign. It will be a litmus test for how popular he is and whether he is really the peoples’ President in waiting.”
In contrast, the Atiku campaign, which has left no one in doubt that it has the wherewithal to run the political race, has continued to rely on its time-tested strategy of pacesetting.
It is on record that Atiku was the first among the aspirants to declare his intention to run. Putting his money where his mouth is, he followed it up by being the first to purchase, fill and return his nomination and expression of interest forms.
He has since capped this with a series of public events to sell his policy document on how he intends to solve the challenges he is likely to confront when he gets the ticket and eventually the presidency.
Perhaps taking a cue from past experiences, he decided it was best to meet delegates in their domains before convention day.
Coordinator of the Atiku Media Office, Mallam Garba Shehu, explains that his principal’s politics has always been about the people.
According to him, it is in recognition of the might of the people’s votes that drives him to seek to meet and engage with people at every given opportunity.
He said, “The Turaki remains grateful to the APC for providing an atmosphere for aspirants to meet with delegates, to sell themselves, their ideas, policies and programmes. I am sure you have not heard of any instance where any of the party’s aspirants was denied landing at the state airport or refused meeting with delegates because the state chief executive has committed himself to one aspirant or another.”
He equally noted that the forthcoming primaries would strengthen the party’s position as the party of choice for all Nigerians committed to positive change.
Atiku himself, in a recent interview with an online newspaper, The Cable, underscored the value of delegates who will ultimately choose the party’s candidate.
He told the newspaper, “Nowadays delegates have become more enlightened than before. Most of them are very educated and most of them want to engage their candidates in discussions on what is it they have for them, for the electorate and for the party. If they have not seen you, not to talk of interacting with you, how would they vote for you?”
There is also news making the rounds that unless Kwankwaso steps down, votes of delegates from the North-West, where he and Buhari come from, will be split into two.
The party leadership has promised to provide a level playing field for all aspirants for the best candidate to emerge. It can not afford to do otherwise because its life depends on it.
Punch
Barring any last minute changes, in exactly one week from today, Wednesday December 10, 2014 to be precise, the opposition All Progressives Congress will unveil its presidential candidate.
This, fact, is not lost to some of the contenders in the race for the ticket.
For more than a decade, members of the opposition tried but failed to come together to form a formidable challenge to the political behemoth which the ruling Peoples Democratic Party has come to represent.
For the first time in recent political memory, this jinx was broken with the formation of the APC from the ashes of what used to be the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigerian Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change, not forgetting a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.
The personal ambitions of individual party leaders were suspended as opposition leaders appeared determined to build a platform to wrest power from the ruling party.
Keen observers of the new party were aware of the fact that some of these leaders joined the merger based on certain assurances.
The most outstanding of these leaders are Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
In fact, Buhari, a serial presidential candidate under the defunct ANPP and later the CPC, was said to have been convinced to join in the formation of the APC based on an understanding that he will be handed the ticket.
For a while, most of his supporters especially those within the party, were under the impression that the party’s ticket was his for the taking.
Atiku, on his part, was assured of a level playing field to take another shot at the presidential race.
National publicity secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, however, argues that the interest shown by these Nigerians and the fact that there will be a primary was proof that neither the party nor its leadership had any hidden agenda.
He said, “Our candidate will emerge via a credible, transparent process which will show to the entire world that the APC values internal democracy and is committed to setting an example for other parties to learn from.”
Buhari’s supporters remain upbeat and appear not to have given up hope that GMB – as they like to call their benefactor, will emerge victorious. Their hope is buoyed by the fact that he has, since 2003, rode on his charisma and mass appeal to secure party tickets. His supporters often cite his impressive showing during the 2011 Presidential elections to buttress their point. One of his most vocal supporters, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said this much. Okechukwu said, “We have seen that the connection between him and the middle class and the masses of this country is unparalleled. He has a bond between the masses of this country and the middle class and that kind of bond generated 12 million votes in 2011 in a micro Congress for Progressive Change, a small CPC, now we have a broader political party – the APC. I think all we need to do is to compliment and supplement the 12 million votes.”
He, like most of Buhari’s disciples, also allude to what they argue is his cult-like following, especially in northern Nigeria to canvass for a consensus ticket for their benefactor.
This, perhaps, explains the slow start of the ‘Meet the delegates’ tour’ by Buhari.
However, politics being what it is, most often than not, develops a life of its own. A slight change of plans can alter agreements and turn permutations on their heads.
Some pundits argue that the entry of Atiku into the APC did just that. Atiku, whose supporters, say has to his credit, years of experience in the murky waters of Nigerian politics, altered earlier calculations, forcing party leaders to return to the drawing board.
It is now obvious that the politics of ‘anointment’ which was the practice in some of the legacy parties can no longer gain currency.
Although article 20(1) of the APC constitution provides for the emergence of a candidate through a consensus agreement, the party resolved to choose its candidates via indirect primaries. This model had a successful test run during the botched Adamawa governorship by-election.
The decision did not come easy. Influential party members pushed for a consensus candidate without success as the number of aspirants grew. The N27.5m price tag for the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms did not deter the four who have so far showed interest in the contest.
Four persons – Buhari, Atiku, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and the publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah, have so far purchased, filled and returned their forms.
However, some observers are of the view that the race is slowly but surely becoming a two-horse race between Buhari and Atiku.
To those in this school of thought, activities in the campaigns of the two so far show them to be in a better position to clinch the ticket. This is not, however, to say that Kwankwaso and Nda-Isaiah can simply be wished away.
It has since dawned on Buhari supporters that apart from the ex-Head-of-State’s strength of character, which they often use as capital, they would require funding to run a successful campaign first for the ticket and then for the race, if he gets nominated.
To address this challenge, the Buhari Support Organisation launched an appeal for public support for his cause. The appeal was launched with barely three weeks to the primaries.
Director of Publicity of BSO, Dr. Chidia Madukwe, spoke glowingly about this initiative. He said, “Every second, some money is being paid into (the) account by concerned Nigerians. That shows you how hopeful Nigerians have become at the prospect of a possible Buhari presidency. We want to say that if people believe in General Buhari as the arrowhead of the change we so deserve, then, they will be willing to make their contribution.
“So, having borrowed money to buy his form, we have set up a platform that can provide money to pay back that loan and, indeed, fund his campaign. It will be a litmus test for how popular he is and whether he is really the peoples’ President in waiting.”
In contrast, the Atiku campaign, which has left no one in doubt that it has the wherewithal to run the political race, has continued to rely on its time-tested strategy of pacesetting.
It is on record that Atiku was the first among the aspirants to declare his intention to run. Putting his money where his mouth is, he followed it up by being the first to purchase, fill and return his nomination and expression of interest forms.
He has since capped this with a series of public events to sell his policy document on how he intends to solve the challenges he is likely to confront when he gets the ticket and eventually the presidency.
Perhaps taking a cue from past experiences, he decided it was best to meet delegates in their domains before convention day.
Coordinator of the Atiku Media Office, Mallam Garba Shehu, explains that his principal’s politics has always been about the people.
According to him, it is in recognition of the might of the people’s votes that drives him to seek to meet and engage with people at every given opportunity.
He said, “The Turaki remains grateful to the APC for providing an atmosphere for aspirants to meet with delegates, to sell themselves, their ideas, policies and programmes. I am sure you have not heard of any instance where any of the party’s aspirants was denied landing at the state airport or refused meeting with delegates because the state chief executive has committed himself to one aspirant or another.”
He equally noted that the forthcoming primaries would strengthen the party’s position as the party of choice for all Nigerians committed to positive change.
Atiku himself, in a recent interview with an online newspaper, The Cable, underscored the value of delegates who will ultimately choose the party’s candidate.
He told the newspaper, “Nowadays delegates have become more enlightened than before. Most of them are very educated and most of them want to engage their candidates in discussions on what is it they have for them, for the electorate and for the party. If they have not seen you, not to talk of interacting with you, how would they vote for you?”
There is also news making the rounds that unless Kwankwaso steps down, votes of delegates from the North-West, where he and Buhari come from, will be split into two.
The party leadership has promised to provide a level playing field for all aspirants for the best candidate to emerge. It can not afford to do otherwise because its life depends on it.
Punch
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