Assistant Editor (North), CHUKS EHIRIM, takes a look at the presidential declaration of former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, and his chances of picking All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in the party’s primaries.
Buhari, who spoke at the gathering of volunteers and representatives of his support groups numbering over 48 from different parts of Nigeria, for his presidential ambition in 2015, put a stop to all manner of speculations regarding his ambition.
Speaking at the occasion, which held at the Tropicana Hotel, Utako, Abuja, on Tuesday, September 30, Buhari told his supporters to also bear in mind that all other aspirants of the party should also be supported by the groups. He also reminded them that no effort should be spared in ensuring that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is voted out of power in 2015, adding that the country has wasted 15 years of democratic rule because of bad governance.
An aspirant and his agenda
Buhari has hinged his desire to govern Nigeria on patriotism, public-spiritedness and an abiding love for the people of the country.
According to him, nothing more than patriotism will make any honest and sane politician want to be saddled with economically-troubled Nigeria which seems to be sinking in deeper trouble.
Speaking on the task ahead, he said: “Today, we are in the 15th year of purposeless leadership by the PDP, and all we have seen is unprecedented deterioration in the security as well as law and order situation, astronomical rise in the incidence and intensity of corruption and in the failure of governance.
“As we reach this last lap of the journey, I would like to request that we concentrate all our effort and energy towards realising and achieving change in how this country is run. The only way to meaningful change in this country is to vote the PDP out of power to which it was never legitimately elected.
“The task before us today is wide-ranging and very great. The first and most important is to take away power from those who have been misusing it. Indeed, except for the call of patriotism, public-spiritedness and abiding love for the people of this country, nothing will today make any honest, honourable and sane politician want to be saddled with Nigeria with an economy in trouble and a society even in deeper trouble and a government that is not working.”
He also informed his supporters that he would formally be declaring soon, adding: “However, I would like to point out to you that, to be more meaningful, your support must extend beyond my person and always be available to the party and all those the party puts forward because it is the party that is the platform.
“You must at all times remember that the APC is a party with several qualified people for each and all the positions that will be contested, including that of the president. It is the primary that will determine who eventually represents the party in which capacity.
“If I get the party nomination, l expect you will re-double your effort and commitment until we clinch the presidency. But in the event that it happens to be one of the other aspirants who wins, l will expect you, as good party men, to extend to him your total support.”
Buhari, who had always had the misfortune of being misquoted on the issue of inciting statements, was very careful on this occasion not to have anything that would link him with hate speech.
“For this and other reasons, l must warn all my supporters, volunteers and other well-wishers within the party or even out of it not to insult or be rude to any other aspirant or party leader on my behalf.
“My supporters must not engage in any kind of behaviour or conduct that will tarnish the image of any leader or promote division and rancour within the ranks of the party,” he added.
On the general election, he said: “At the same time, I would like to appeal and urge you to be good ambassadors of the opposition. As a body, the opposition is committed to the rule of law, and as members of the parties in the opposition, you must learn to do the same at all times.”
On his strength, he said “the only capital we have is the trust of the people which they have, of their own accord, given us. We may be the most underfunded project in the history of this country, but by the grace of God and your support, we are the greatest crowd-puller in the nation today.”
In his company to the gathering were: former governor of Bayelsa State, Timpre Sylva; former governorship candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu; Gen. John Shagaya, Ikechi Emenike, Sen. Hadi Siriki and many others.
In his remarks, the Director General of Buhari Support Group (BSG), Umaru Dambo, stated that come 2015, his principal will take over governance.
It was earlier slated that Buhari would make his formal declaration this week, precisely on Wednesday, October 8. This date seems to have changed, as TheNiche reliably gathered that the event will now come up after the Saturday, October 11, governorship election in Adamawa State. Though this new date was not confirmed at press time, a source close to the retired General told our reporter that the event will not come up before the Adamawa ballot.
This outing by Buhari, coming on the heels of the declaration by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, another major presidential gladiator in APC, gave his supporters some morale booster. Before the outing, Buhari had also stormed Sokoto State on Saturday, September 27, as one of the special guests during the official turbaning of the House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, where he stole the show, irrespective of the presence of other political gladiators at the occasion.
Additional advantage to Buhari is the speculation within the APC that former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who had earlier indicated interest in the race for the party’s presidential ticket, has shelved the idea and is now working closely with the retired General, with the possibility of heading his campaigns if he emerges APC flag-bearer.
He intends to cover another major political mileage tomorrow (October 6) when he takes the centre stage at Ijebu-Ode during this year’s celebration of the Ojodu-Oba annual festival, which is being hosted by the Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona. This festival, which normally comes up two days after the Ileya Muslim festival in Yoruba land, will also be graced by former Defence Minister, LT. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.
Building on shuttle diplomacy
The occasion will afford many of Buhari’s supporters in the South West the opportunity to showcase the general acceptance of the former military strong man in the zone, preparatory to the battle for the APC presidential ticket.
A source within the party told TheNiche that Buhari is already the consensus candidate of the party, as far as the South West flank of the party is concerned. Just last Wednesday, on Nigeria’s 54th Independence Day, Buhari was in Ekiti State commissioning projects completed by Governor Kayode Fayemi. The source posited that the South West APC led by former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, is pushing that the retired General be made the party’s consensus candidate at the national level.
Speaking on the visit of Buhari to Ijebu Ode, the National Coordinator (South) of the BSG Centre, Ezekiel Longe, boasted that it will boost his chances in the South West, in 2015 presidential contest.
According to him, “this is his first major outing in the South preparatory to his 2015 presidential campaigns. We want to make a huge political success of it. We have state coordinators in the South who are looking forward to meeting Buhari in flesh and blood. We are making it low key because we do not want to compete with the PDP which has been spending billions of tax-payers’ money to rent crowds.”
Longe added that “this is opportunity for our people to see and discuss with Buhari. We thank God that he has told the whole world that he is offering himself for leadership once again, unlike some people who are wasting public funds, pretending that they are being begged to declare”.
Asked what he feels are Buhari’s chances if he picks the party’s ticket, Longer said, “there had been alliances in the past that failed. The highest bidders always had their ways in the past. All that had changed. We now have the defunct ACN, ANPP (All Nigeria Peoples Party), CPC (Congress for Progressive Change), part of APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance), DPP (Democratic Peoples Party) and new PDP which came together to form the APC. We bear the same name, the same logo, have the same objective and mission as well as the same interest. We are all stakeholders; so it is our project and all these people are concerned about Nigeria.”
He lamented the failure of leadership in the country, positing that “it is very unfortunate that the great Zik of Africa, a graduate of the 1930s who struggled to win Independence for Nigeria, died without realising the Nigeria of his dream. Obafemi Awolowo died in the same frustration. But our generation has vowed to help realise the country of our dream. Things cannot continue this way. We must put an end to this celebration of mediocrity which has been on since 1999.”
Also speaking on the same issue, Anene Chikezie, a lawyer who heads the APC South East Volunteer Network, said: “We are routing for Buhari in this contest because of his credibility, integrity, incorruptibility and ability to stop the lingering state of insecurity in the country.”
Chikezie, whose group was among the over 48 that met with Buhari last Tuesday in Abuja, added that “Buhari is trusted by the poor in Nigeria who see him as the only one now capable of liberating them from the grip of wicked, greedy, heartless and deceptive leadership that is overseeing the affairs of the country. The poor masses also want him because of his philosophy of social justice for all, irrespective of your social class, religious or tribal inclination.”
A major factor many count in Buhari’s favour is his zero tolerance for corruption. Akisola Omdiji, a social commentator, spoke on the qualities of the former head of state: “If Nigeria is truly serious at tackling corruption and putting the country on the right pedestal, Buhari is the man that should be the president next year.”
Burden of presidential aspiration
Despite his popularity, especially among the masses, Buhari still has a lot of hurdles to clear before getting APC’s presidential ticket this time around. What, for instance, cannot easily be determined is the extent of Buhari’s financial war chest to weather through APC presidential primaries. Another obstacle is the calibre of other aspirants who are doing everything possible to brace the tape before him.
He had run for the presidency on three occasions without success.
Aspirants on parade
Other aspirants include Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso; his counterparts in Imo (Rochas Okorocha) and Edo (Adams Oshiomhole); Publisher of Abuja-based Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah; Atiku and Tambuwal.
Each of these men, and perhaps more who are yet to declare their interest, has what it takes to grab the APC ticket, especially with the party’s liberal policy of not zoning the ticket to any part of Nigeria, as well as its policy of adopting the electoral system that would ensure the grassroots have a say in who gets what.
As a source said, with over 300,000 people going to take part in the APC presidential primaries, it will be pretty difficult for anybody’s fate to be decided by money factor alone.