Information filtering from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) indicates that, about 21 days to the conduct of Presidential election across Nigeria, the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is uncomfortable with the management of his presidential campaign and its outcome thus far.The emergence of Peter Obi and the Labor party into the presidential fray was believed to have caught them off-guard and the Atiku campaign has not been able to readjust the campaign to correct the Peter Obi factor.
Geopolitical regions of the South East, South South and North Central which have historically voted overwhelmingly for Atiku Abubakar and the PDP party appears to be leaning away from the PDP and heavily towards the Labor party.
Efforts were said have been made by the Atiku campaign to correct the Peter Obi and Labor party intrusion. The campaign handlers were given instructions to use politicians of South East extraction particularly Anambra State to “speak” on Peter Obi – to dissuade the communities of the aforementioned geopolitical regions from going along with the Labor party presidential candidates.
Major airtime buys in the media and media appearances by PDP stalwarts were booked and used to disparage Peter Obi’s chances at the polls and also discourage Peter Obi’s followers into believing that Peter Obi’s chances of victory are slim – and thus a vote for him would translate to a wasted vote.
Many of the lieutenants of the Atiku presidential campaign took to the media airwaves with a rebranding message to re-brand Peter Obi in the eyes of the voters. The likes of Chief Arthur Eze – a billionaire from Anambra State – and others spoke brazenly of the need for the south east to know that a vote for Peter Obi is a wasted vote. Amongst the lieutenants is one-time Minster of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka. He has made many appearances both on campaign rallies and on television channels to spread the talking point of rebranding Peter Obi.
Rather than having the expected effect within the targeted communities, the reverse appeared to have taken effect. It resulted in the entrenchment of their belief in the Labor presidential candidate – and a resentment of the purveyors of the rebrand Peter Obi message.
Recently, followers of the Anambra billionaire, Chief Arthur Eze returned all the campaign materials of Atiku Abubakar and dumped them at the front of his country home in Anambra State. They also set the items on fire.
These reactions and/or rejections have, in turn, resulted in frustration to the Atiku campaign and to the presidential candidate. This is as a source who claims to have knowledge of the inner workings of campaign claims the presidential candidate has grown increasingly discontent within the direction of the campaign.
“Atiku is not pleased with the campaign so far. He believes that Peter Obi should have not been allowed to eat into his campaign this much.”
Exacerbating matters for Atiku are the lieutenants within the PDP presidential team who have refused to join the campaign against Peter Obi. Many of the PDP stalwarts from the south east geopolitical zone who are working to materialize the PDP quest for the presidency, have been reluctance to join the train to rebrand Peter Obi. The likes of Senator Uche Ekwunife who is the senator representing the Anambra central district under the PDP banner have turned around her support from Atiku Abubakar to Peter Obi. She had initially made public pronouncements of her support for the PDP presidential candidate while denouncing the presidential candidate of the Labor party as inexperienced – and thus not ready.
Internal wrangling within the party continues to rattle the cohesiveness of the presidential campaign amidst the already tough grind. This adds another dimension to the diminishing returns.
Recent revelation by sources indicate the five governors (G-5) of the PDP led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who had initially stepped away from supporting the PDP presidential candidate is said to have expanded their radius of influence significantly to areas beyond what was previously thought by political experts. Other elected PDP officials including other stalwarts of the PDP have silently joined the crusade against Atiku Abubakar. The identities of the PDP turncoats are not readily available but our source confirms the number to be upwards of eight.
Meanwhile, Atiku is reported to have called upon his lieutenants to double their efforts to turn the tide, especially following the public outcry from Governor Nasiru El Rufai claiming that Atiku was working in tandem with elements in the presidential villa to undermine the chances of the APC. To Atiku, El Rufai’s outcry was similar to that of a whistle blower. It may have unraveled the plans being hatched by the elements in the villa.
Claims by politicians in the know are that indeed elements within the presidential villa have been collaborating with the PDP presidential candidate more than the public would imagine.
A source points to the Central Bank’s recent monetary policy toward cash control and naira redesign as hatched by the same elements in the villa allegedly to checkmate the APC presidential candidate from engaging in vote buying on election day.
Source: 247ureports.com.
