PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
Like a bolt from the blue, some Northern chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has thrown their weight behind the candidacy of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The chieftains under the Northern Leaders Consultative Forum made up of Christians and Muslims adopted Atiku after the report of its technical committee was presented to its members at a public forum in Abuja.
The report was signed by the Chairman of the Northern Leaders Technical Criteria Committee, Hon. Mohammed Kumaila and Secretary, Nunghe Kele (SAN), was presented by the former Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr Simon Achuba.
Northern leaders, who attended the meeting included a former Kogi Governor Idris Wada and a former Minister for Water Resources, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari.
“After a careful evaluation of all the issues highlighted above, we hereby recommend the adoption of the PDP, to all lovers of democracy in Nigeria, for the 2023 presidential election.
“However, this should be subject to getting the necessary assurance from the party to run an all-inclusive government, details of which shall be discussed with the leadership of the party in the nearest future,” the group stated.
According to them, Atiku was adopted following the resolve of the Northern Christian leaders to work with their Muslim counterparts to adopt one of the presidential candidates in a bid to defeat the same-faith presidential ticket of the APC.
Persecondnews recalls that the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir Lawal, a member of the group, had endorsed the presidential candidate, of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.
Lawal said Obi were endorsed, after painstakingly reviewing and analysing the alternative candidates.
Dogara and other members of the group had distanced themselves from the endorsement, saying they were yet to conclude consultations and that their position will be made public.
But while reading the report of the Technical Criteria Committee set up by the leaders, Achuba said Atiku was endorsed after evaluating other candidates — the presidential candidate of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Among the criteria considered are the existing structure of the PDP, capacity of the candidates, evidence of national penetration, religious and ethnic balance, among others to arrive at the decision.
He said it was observed that the APC and PDP are almost at par in terms of political structure, but the compounding albatross on the neck of APC is the “unfortunate self-inflicted divisive same-faith-ticket which cannot guarantee the desired peace, unity and cohesion in Nigeria, a decision that has been kicked against by a huge population of Nigerians.”
Achuba said that while Obi and Kwankwaso may emerge as strong contenders in the political arena in the future, from all indications, the PDP appeared to be the best option to adopt and support.
“The seven and a half years of the APC government has engendered wide spread national perception of its inability to tackle security challenges and turn around the national economy.
“A further compounding albatross on its neck is the unfortunate self-inflicted divisive same-faith-ticket which cannot guarantee the desired peace, unity and cohesion in Nigeria, a decision that has been kicked against by a huge population of Nigerians.
“The perception that the APC Presidential candidate has some health challenges makes people very uncomfortable. There is the fear that it may precipitate a situation where unelected surrogates will be running the government while the president left attending to his health .
“On account of 1 – 4 above, the party is likely to face a backlash or may not escape a backlash that will lead to its defeat at the polls in 2023.
“From the existing structure of the Labour Party and even from the records of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as it stands for 2023 elections, even if all their candidates win in the 2023 elections, can the party still produce the President? Very unlikely indeed.
“Assuming without conceding that they even produce t+ President, can they (LP) run the government? Not likely. The results of 5 and 6 above will be to form a minority Government with devastating effect on National political stability further impelling the fragile health of our Country.
“Furthermore, there is no way a keen political observer will not see that there is a major disconnect between Peter Obi as a candidate and Labour,which is indicative of the fact that he is not running a collegial political structure in a diverse Country like Nigeria.
“It is, however, respectively observed that LP is a party to be watched in the future only if it sustains the tempo and maintains the mass movement while at the same time building up its structures towards subsequent elections.
“The NNPP on the other hand has similar characteristics with the LP and there is no need repeating same except that ~ NNPP appears to be building a party for the future with – little or no impact in the 2023 elections,” he said.
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