By Emeka Alex Duru
At a Special National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on April 20, 2009, late President Umaru Yar’Adua, put up an action that endeared him to many Nigerians, even when it turned out a dummy.
A typical Nigerian politician, utterly groomed in the act of subterfuge, he had taken a look at excited party members, coterie of hangers–on and other obviously rented cheer men at the Eagle Square, Abuja venue of the show, brandishing banners and fliers, seeking his conscription into the 2011 presidential election.
Some of the posters roared with inscriptions: “Support Continuity”, “With Yar’Adua, the future is brighter”. While the showmen entertained themselves, to the amusement of other PDP chieftains, Yar’Adua had painted a picture of indifference to their frenzy.
Not done with a posture of apathy to the rowdy displays, when it was his time to address the audience, he cut the image of a local Headmaster calling his rancorous pupils to order.
Yar’Adua pointedly told his party men that the clamour for 2011 when the government was hardly two years in office, amounted to grave disservice to the Nigerian electorate. He urged them to concentrate on the delivery of service to the people.
That singular declaration greatly endeared him to even his critics who had hitherto dismissed him as not having control over the party.
But beneath Yar’Adua’s tough posture was a huge dummy sold to unsuspecting Nigerians. For instance, while he admonished his party men to exercise restraint in going about their individual ambitions, the Presidency which he headed, was assiduously working for his re-election in 2011.
Part of his strategy was the reinvigoration of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the fabled political machine of his elder brother, late Shehu Yar’Adua, to oil the campaign.
Yar’Adua, incidentally could not actualize the agenda as he died barely a year after. But a bold statement had been made in the politics of duplicity that seems to have become the norm in the land.
Buhari takes cue
President Muhammadu Buhari, keyed into the tongue-in-cheek strategy over his reelection agenda, on Tuesday, November 28, in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, while attending the 5th European Union-African Union (EU-AU) Summit.
Though falling short of making a direct declaration for the office, he made a statement that appeared the clearest hint so far that he will seek reelection in 2019.
In an interactive session with the Nigerian community in the country in company of Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel and his Bauchi counterpart, Mohammed Abubakar, among others, Buhari remarked that he requested the two governors to accompany him to the meeting because of their electoral value.
“First I want to apologise for keeping you for too long sitting. This is because I insisted on the governors attending this meeting.
“This is why I came along with them so that when we are going to meet you, when you are going to meet the rest of Nigerians, if you tell them that their governors were in the company of the president, I think that will be another vote for me in the future,” Buhari said.
For a President that has curiously governed with a culture of making most of his policy statements while on tour outside the country, the import of his remarks has not been lost on his audience at home.
Shortly after his inauguration in 2015, Buhari, had in response to a question from a London audience on his strategy at carrying along restive groups in country, hinted that he should not be expected to treat those that supported him with 97 percent votes during the election, on the same scale with those that gave him paltry 5 percent.
While he made the declaration, it was apparent that he was making a veiled reference to the South East and South-South parts of the country, where he did not garner many votes.
Even as condemnations trailed the outburst by the President, he has remained with the hard stance. In the process, the South East, in particular, has remained the whipping boy of his administration. For example, in the entire security apparatus of the country spanning the military and para-military, not a single officer from the zone is heading any of the arms.
It was also while abroad that he exhibited before a foreign news medium, Aljazeera, his uncompromising stance against the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), a south east group seeking independence for separate state of Biafra.
In keeping with his stringent position against the group, soldiers were regularly mobilised against the members. Last year, for instance, a report by Amnesty International on the bestiality of the Nigerian Army against members of the organisation between August 2015 and August 2016, put the agitators killed by the soldiers within the period at over 150. This was aside the mayhem visited against them, earlier this year.
There have been other remarks that on the surface, appeared casual, which the President made abroad, that ended up revealing his thinking on major issues in the land.
How far can Buhari go?
There is nothing yet indicating any threat to Buhari’s ambition if he decides to pursue same within his political platform, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Aside what is becoming the trend in a governor or president being offered the chance for seeking reelection, there has not been any sign of any party member posing any challenge to him.
An official of the Lagos state chapter of the party, who does not want to be mentioned, disagrees, however. According to him, “it is too early to conclude that it is going to be a roller-coaster ride for him in our party. You may never be too sure. In 2015, it was not as if he was anointed for the position. Many forces and alliances coalesced to push him ahead of others. Those variables may also change against him in 2019 or remain for him. Let’s leave the time to take care of the time”, he said.
APC at the national level, has also declared that it is not giving any person automatic ticket for any office. In a release by its publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party stated that every contestant for any office would be subjected to primary alongside others.
Former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, had also made similar remarks. But even at that, not much could really be said to be extra-ordinary in the remarks by Tinubu and Abdullahi.
Even Tinubu that had before now, been touted as a likely obstacle to Buhari on account of what had been seen as his exclusion from the party, is gradually getting very close to the president.
Not that informed analysts had expected much challenge from him, anyway. For a politician that has exhibited more of intrigues and behind-the-scene deals rather than open confrontation at the national level, there was no how he could have provided the muscle to upstage Buhari. He was with the president in his Abidjan trip.
In fact, with the exit of the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, from APC, the conclusion is that the road has been effectively cleared for Buhari to pick the ticket of the party.
Return of praise singers
In apparent move to tantalise the president for the offer, there are indications that in the days ahead, rented crowds and supporters will be mobilised to appeal to him to accept the offer to go for another term.
Former Abia State governor, Orji Kalu and Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, have even set the stage in this regard. In a recent televised interview, Kalu had vowed that even if Buhari is not favorably disposed for the exercise, he and his group would force him to do so.
On his own, Okorocha had disclosed that 34 governors had already endorsed the president for another term. He did not mention the governors. But given the unusual closeness of even the governors from the opposition PDP to Buhari, it would hardly come as a surprise to see many of them not joining the train.
What may then, perhaps, neutralize Buhari’s ambition at reelection, may be the ability of the PDP to come up with a credible and electable presidential candidate, next year. But that will depend on the party putting its house in order.