If the media reports, first published by The Punch Newspaper, that Atiku Abubakar has offered Peter Obi, his running mate in the 2019 Presidential election, a similar role again, and that the former Governor of Anambra State is tinkering with the idea, weighing the option to earn the backing of his core ‘loyalists,’ then the man whose personality created the Obidient movement in the last election could be digging his political grave even before he achieves anything meaningful on the national scale.
This position might not be the conventional wisdom since, according to the source, Atiku’s deal is to serve for a four-year term and afterwards Peter Obi would be in the position of stepping in for the Presidential race. …CONTINUE READING
But the flaw in this arrangement is that it has all the trappings of Atiku’s self-ambition to rule Nigeria, and little of the zeal to solve Nigeria’s problems. It is a political configuration to remove President Bola Tinubu from office, like the coalition that brought the All Progressives Congress (APC) into power, cobbled together on the mutual disapproval of Goodluck Jonathan, but lacked a foundational blueprint to tackle head-on the many problems that plague Nigeria. If Atiku has grand ideas that would fix Nigeria, will four years be enough to lay the foundations, knowing that the level of decay caused by former administrations requires an enormous amount of effort and time for any meaningful implementation?
Another concern, which must not be left to be evaluated in the future, is the assurance that Atiku would step down after a single term. Could you imagine a scenario where Atiku, a former VP, who since he left office in 2007, has lingered in the corridors of political power, seeking to become President of Africa’s largest country, would, after a single term, relinquish power and quietly retire? My best guess is that towards the end of the first term, Peter Obi would be levelled with a scandal that would see him removed as VP, and with the arsenal of federal power already in the hands of Atiku, he does not need the influence and charisma of Peter Obi to gain re-election.
I understand the need for a kind of coalition and compromise that will dislodge Tinubu from the Presidential Villa. But must that coalition be on the explicit terms of Atiku, whose leadership style could be blamed for the reason behind the massive decampment from his party, PDP, to APC in recent times?
The rise of Peter Obi as ‘the third force’ in the last general election hinges on his ability to convince Nigerians, particularly the younger generation, that he is a new breed of politician and is ready to do things differently. That he is not ready for unnecessary compromise for the sake of power. That he is not obsessed with the hunger to be President, but genuinely moved by the desire to solve Nigeria’s problems.
Hence, I earnestly believe that if he accepts Atiku’s self-centered strategy, he has been consumed by the same desperation for power, and has decided, instead of building his growing structure, to go back to the old ways of compromising for the elite that has always dictated the power dynamics in Nigeria.
