Since Alhaji Abubakar Atiku left the ruling All Progressive s Congress (APC), and later returned to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), it has been one political discourse or the other in the media.
Many political stalwarts across the platforms have reacted differently based on their opinions, leaving no one in doubt about the personality of the former number two man on the saddle of this great nation. The APC spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi said: “the former vice president found that his interest would be better served elsewhere and he decided based on that.” Abdullahi went on to say “no party would be happy to see its leaders depart, but politics is all about interest. ”
Abdullahi’s assertion has countered insinuations in some quarters, regarding constant defections across platforms, by Atiku. The Nigerian political system is not new to defections, especially when such is done with the sole aim of realizing a noble ambition.
Recall that President Buhari’s political journey started from APP to ANPP, CPC, ACN, and finally, he won elections in 2015 on the platform of APC.
Ben Murray Bruce, a senator representing Bayelsa East says Atiku Abubakar is Nigeria’s next president following his formal return to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. Senator Bruce further said that PDP has a good retirement plan for President Muhammad Buhari come 2019.
By a stretch of imagination, Atiku is a political phenomenon who has not only the means and capacity to prosecute elections, but also the sagacity and clout to wield influence and garner support for his cause. The Wazirin Adamawa has a pan-Nigeria spirit. Over the years, he has built bridges across the country. He has got the pedigree with regards to leadership and statecraft. The APC will, for a very long time, regret losing such a political heavyweight.
While addressing newsmen in Abuja on the occasion of his decamping, the former vice president said he made the mistake of his life to have joined the APC in the hope that it would adhere to the tenets of democracy. He also justified his resolve to dump the party, saying it was borne out of the fact that the Muhammad Buhari-led administration has not lived up to the expectations of Nigerians.
Also in a live Facebook chat with Nigerians, Atiku said “rather than the promise to create three million jobs annually, no fewer than three million Nigerians have instead lost their jobs in more than two years of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Atiku saw APC, not in the spectrum of a formidable political party, but a conspiracy amongst desperate politicians to seize power, yet without a clear-cut plan for governance. More so, president Buhari’s clear lack of direction and intelligent governance has sure left a great disillusionment amongst a wide spectrum of the citizenry.
Previously, at a forum in Federal Government College, Okigwe, Imo state, Atiku observed rather with great dismay, that Nigeria has never been so divided along ethnic and religious lines than it is now, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Our country is not at war in the sense of guns and bombs, but the level of interethnic discontent, hatred and hate speech is at an all-time high”, he maintained.” Secession threats, interethnic discontent, hatred and hate speech have plunged present-day Nigeria into a division that has probably never existed before,” Atiku had said.
The former vice president who was represented at the occasion by his media adviser, Paul Ibe emphasized the need for unity among different ethnic groups, the northern and southern regions, and members of different religious persuasions.
Exploring some of President Muhammadu Buhari’s vulnerabilities, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, said President Buhari is bereft of how a government should be run. The front line legal practitioner went on to describe the federal cabinet constituted by Buhari as incompetent, saying “Buhari is sleeping on the job.”
“Government work is misunderstood even by the president. He doesn’t understand the nature of how to run a government “,Agbakoba told newsmen in Lagos recently.
Should Atiku emerge as the flag bearer of the PDP, the major opposition party, for the 2019 presidential polls, and eventually be voted as the president of Nigeria, this nation would be saved from imminent disintegration. Of course, many Nigerians across both sides of the divide see him as a credible alternative to the current leadership.
Abubakar Atiku as vice president under former president Olusegun Obasanjo, was a powerful political figure, and a force to reckon with. He used his position to build and nurture a powerful political machine and rallied support for Obasanjo across the north and south divides. Given his experience as a bridge builder, the Wazirin Adamawa has all it takes to govern the most populous black nation on the globe.
Joseph Orjime, a journalist and public affairs analyst, wrote in from Abuja.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Greenbarge Reporters’s editorial policy.
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