Muhammadu Buhari is getting a grip on his presidential ticket as most All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors have stepped down for him, including Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, to ensure the General hits the target with his fourth shot.
Both bad strategy and wrong public perception scuttled his run for the Villa in 2003, 2007, and 2011. Yet his loyalists, citing his antecedent as military Head of State between December 1983 and August 1985, insist he is the best man to clean Nigeria of corruption.
Buhari’s hand began to be strengthened on Tuesday, November 18, when House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, backed out of his Aso Rock gambit.
Tambuwal, whose presidential foray had been seen as rather eccentric, would have split the Northern vote for Buhari in the APC primary.
Buhari’s advantages and hurdles
Buhari has two advantages in his column.
He has a strong base in the North, which wants power shift that it will not get in 2015 from the PDP, with President Goodluck Jonathan home and dry as its sole candidate.
The South West is largely cornered up by the APC, and that favours Buhari.
But the South South, Jonathan’s backyard, will probably go for the president. The South East, the battleground in 2015, is up for grabs but most political leaders in the zone are not happy with the APC.
Kwankwaso too would have split the Northern vote for Buhari in the primary. But a source disclosed that he bowed to pressure from his fellow governors to step down to bolster the last shot at Aso Rock by Buhari, now 71.
“Although this has not been made official yet, I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that Kwankwaso will eventually step down for Buhari for the APC presidential ticket,” said the source, who did not want his name in print.
“Almost all the APC governors have also agreed to endorse Buhari for the ticket. That was the reason only he, as a presidential aspirant, participated in the party’s Salvation rally in Abuja last Wednesday (November 19).”
Northern leaders prevail on Tambuwal
Northern leaders prevailed on Tambuwal to back out of his own ambition to prevent acrimony and support Buhari.
“Having consulted widely, taking into consideration the concerns of some elders of the party, I have decided to suspend my participation in the presidential contest for now,” Tambuwal explained in a statement on November 19.
“I have done so as a sacrifice for the cohesion and unity of the APC. I am suspending my participation in the presidential race for now because I do not have any inordinate ambition to occupy any office.
“Nigeria is a country too great to sacrifice on the altar of partisan politics and personal ambition. What anyone becomes in life is exclusively in the hands of God. Only God gives power to whoever he pleases.”
A week earlier, Tambuwal’s friends had procured the presidential nomination form for him. Before then, he was said to be angling to succeed Sokoto State Governor, Magatakarda Wamakko.
Buhari versus Atiku
As far as the eye can see, the last man standing between Buhari and the APC ticket at the primary on December 10 is former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
However, Atiku was absent at the party’s Salvation rally in Abuja on Wednesday, November 19, which spun speculation he may have seen the writing on the wall that the momentum is on the side of Buhari, who led the rally.
When a source in the Atiku camp was contacted to know whether it keys into the permutation of a consensus candidate in Buhari, he said: “No comment.”
The man, who pleaded anonymity, added: “We don’t want to comment on this because the party already has a planning committee for its convention.”
Buhari, APC’s only fighting chance, says Fashakin
Buhari’s spokesperson, Rotimi Fashakin, argued that if anyone needs to step down for another, it is Atiku and the others.
For him, Buhari is the APC’s only fighting chance of wrestling power from the PDP.
Asked whether Buhari’s rating in the South South and South East would not affect his chances? Fashakin said: “You are far behind time. The lie that Jonathan told the South East and South South is no longer there.
“The average citizen in the South East and South South knows that Jonathan has done nothing meritorious to warrant re-election. The only thing that Nigerians know him for is humongous corruption.
“Buhari is so respected. If we get our act together, Jonathan is beatable in Bayelsa. Look at how he has turned Bayelsa Governor (Seriake Dickson) and other officials in the state to errand boys.
“Is that the kind of president Bayelsa wants?”
Nda-Isaiah, one man campaign army
Leadership publisher, Sam Nda-Isaiah, could not be reached for comment. He is reportedly the only presidential aspirant without a media team.
But in an interview with TheNiche on August 3, he said: “I thought you were going to be asking me what their (Buhari, Atiku, and Kwankwaso) chances are. I have my own plans and I intend to win.
“Everybody has their plan. I won’t be in this thing if I didn’t think that I will win.
“If I didn’t see a clear path to victory I will not be wasting my time. I have been saying that I have a good job, a job that I think is better than that of the presidency.
“I am in it to win. I think you should be asking them what their chances are.”
It is speculated that Nda-Isaiah is sponsored to spoil the ticket for Buhari, but he denied, saying, “I don’t know about spoiling his chance, how? Buhari is my role model. I have said that over and over.
“My respect for him has not diminished a bit. But I intend to contest.”
Buhari’s strategy for N7b war chest
So, aware of the financial reach of his political adversaries, Buhari has flagged off his campaign for funds, targeting N7 billion from supporters North and South of the Niger River.
The amount is expected to be raised from an estimated 70 million APC members and Buhari’s admirers being urged to contribute N100 each.
Buhari told young supporters under the aegis of Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) that he adopted the plan based on the party’s structures.
Said he: “What makes it worthy of praise is the fact that the initiative comes with its in-built mechanism for ensuring acceptability that is also transparency friendly. If we preach accountability we should be able to practise it.
“What we are about to witness in the next few moments is the culmination of a painstaking effort and dedication and an unquenchable zeal to make a difference to the future that lies before us.”
Buhari stressed that what youth groups do is rally supporters worldwide for a common purpose to salvage a nation from the brink and end its plunder.
“A similar initiative has been used by politicians in the United States of America, like President Barack Obama who rallied the support of the people around the country to provide funds that enabled him prosecute his election campaign.
“Most of those with deep pockets will neither patronise us nor let us be. We have therefore devised a means of soliciting, aggregating and pooling together the widow’s mite contributed by the mass of our supporters, so we can be home and dry during elections.”
Former PDP National Chairman, Audu Ogbeh (now a member of the APC), who chaired the youth rally, insisted that the APC needs a candidate who can deliver the goods because the Villa is not a place to experiment.
Jonathan on pole position, says PDP
However, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, insisted that the party is busy trying to rule the country and has to time to plot against Buhari’s candidacy.
He dismissed as false the allegation that the PDP is lobbying Buhari to back down from his quest, saying the party has stopped responding to blackmail because it diverts attention from the real issues of governance.
“How can anyone say that we are trying to lobby Buhari, whom they have said is so uncompromising? I want to say this to you unequivocally that PDP loses no sleep over who becomes the opposition’s flag bearer.
“I must tell you that the election would be one sided should only PDP present a presidential candidate for the general election. Therefore, I state here emphatically that the party is ready to go against any candidate from any party,” Metuh said.