Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, examines the recent defection of former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku, from All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the implication of the action on 2019 politics.
The latest action by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar which saw him leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Friday, November 24, 2017, has continued to generate great debate.
For most political analysts the movement is a return to a familiar pathway
The assumption is that he joined the Peoples Democratic Party to become the party’s flag bearer in the 2019 Presidential race.
Expectedly, his critics are hurling phrases like ‘serial contestant’ and ‘political prostitute’ at him and his politics.
But most political commentators are of the view that there is no difference among Nigerian politicians when it comes to hopping from one party to another or moving from one political alignment to another within the same party.
Going by the records, Atiku contested for the presidency of the country only once (in 2007 when he ran under the defunct Action Congress.
Nigeria’s former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), said the defection of Atiku to the PDP is normal and should not attract undue criticism.
For him, Atiku’s case was not the first in the country and that he had the right to associate himself with any political party of his choice.
“He (Atiku) is a Nigerian; he is allowed to go to any party and our constitution allows it. So, it is not new and there is nothing wrong for politicians to move from one party to another,” he said in an interview he granted to newsmen at Minna recently.
Also, Jideofor Adibe, Associate Professor has argued for instance that Buhari, who is regarded as the epitome of integrity by his supporters has been to different political parties before he finally coasted to victory in 2015.
According to him “Buhari contested for the presidency on the platform of the ANPP in 2003 and 2007 and then formed his own party the CPC in 2011. In 2015 he contested again under the APC (a fusion of a number of parties that included his own CPC).
Adibe has argued that there is nothing bad in a man like Atiku having ambition and be scoffed.
According to him “it will also be interesting to interrogate at what point ambition becomes inordinate. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the USA, is usually used to extol the virtues of doggedness and not giving up amid failures and unwanted outcomes.
“Lincoln, who failed in business in 1831, was defeated when he ran to become a State legislator the following year; in 1843, he ran again for Congress and was defeated; he ran again in 1848 and was once more defeated. But he never gave up”
“In 1855, he ran for Senate and lost; he ran for Vice President in 1856 and also lost; when he ran for the Senate in 1859 the outcome was the same failure. But in 1860, his doggedness paid off as God turned to his page and he was elected President of the United States. Why do we use Lincoln to teach people about the virtues of not giving up and deride Atiku because he ran unsuccessfully for President once and tried unsuccessfully two or so times to become the flag bearer of his party?”
To most political watchers, it would be suicidal for the APC to underrate Atiku. This is because a lot has changed since 2015.
Those who voted for Buhari in 2015 did so with certain expectations and it does not seem they still harbour the same level of enthusiasm, it has been argued.
Critics add that the enormous goodwill that brought Buhari to office has shrunk in quantity and quality.
Some commentators have argued that former President Goodluck Jonathan underrated Buhari but that in 2015, everything changed.
In 2015 the same Buhari tagged as a religious bigot and dressed in the uncomplimentary toga of a jihadist for 12 years, suddenly became the darling of Nigerian voters outside his “core north” .
In same manner there are projections that Atiku whom the APC has derided as “corrupt” may spring a surprise as the APC has not shown it’s a better alternative.
Feelers from disenchantment voices in the APC show that those who toiled for Buhari in 2015 have been complaining that they have not been rewarded.
There are feelings in most political quarters that Atiku has become a metaphor for opposition to make the Buhari government know that it cannot take the love and trust of Nigerians for granted.
The assumption is that PDP may see Atiku as its best bet to fly the Presidential flag. If he finally succeeds, Atiku is likely to give the APC a run for their money. And anything can happen as alienated voters may see the opportunity as a payback time to punish the APC.