By Emeka Alex Duru
In terms of experience and regularity of participation in contemporary Nigeria’s politics, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, can be said to have seen it more than other contenders for the presidency in the February 16 elections. But he is yet to hit the target.
Since he announced his entry into the nation’s politics at the 1993 Jos, Plateau State convention of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the ill-fated General Ibrahim Babangida political transition programme, in which he came a surprising third to late MKO Abiola, Babagana Kingibe, Atiku has not hidden his desire for the topmost job. The closest he had come at clinching the position was between 1999 and 2007, when he was the Deputy to President Olusegun Obasanjo. But that did not come to pass following a consuming feud that developed between him and Obasanjo shortly after the commencement of their second term. Ever since, Atiku has been on the journey of sort, for the office, without success.
Return to a familiar track
As the build-up to the February poll gathers steam, Atiku, the Wazirin Adamawa, is again on the familiar track. Drawing on the desire by his party to return to power and the insinuations in some quarters of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration not living up to the expectations of the Nigerian electorate, Atiku sees next month’s exercise as offering him great opportunities to attain the ambition he has nursed, for at least, 26 years.
On Monday, November 19, 2018 when he launched his 2019 presidential campaign, he unveiled a policy document that contained what he described as his vision to get Nigeria working again. The document tagged the “The Atiku’s Plan” encapsulated his agenda for a better Nigeria if voted into office. In it, he pledged to lift Nigerians from their current level of despair and reposition the country on a path that they would be proud of.
Aside a recall on the piteous state of the economy and the poor policy thrust of the current All Progressives Congress (APC) government that appears to have divided Nigerians further on many grounds, he remarked; “The most important question in this election is: are you better off than you were four years ago, are you richer or poorer? That is why our primary focus is to get Nigeria working again.”
He added, “The two major indices of deterioration in the welfare status of Nigerians in recent times are the increasing rates of youth unemployment and high level of poverty.”
The former vice president added that he is targeting a gross domestic product of $900 billion (788 billion euros) by 2025, more than double the current amount and pledged to lift “at least 50 million people out of extreme poverty”.
The challenges, the drawbacks
The presentation from the PDP flag bearer, sounded logical and convincing. But that is perhaps, where the excitement may end, at least, going by the realities on ground. Just as the presentation by his main opponent, President Buhari of the APC, Atiku is yet to demonstrate to the traumatised Nigerians in concrete terms, how he would change their present excruciating conditions. He has, thus, not offered the desired credible alternative.
The PDP candidate, for example, claimed that if elected, his government would privatise key national institutions and set an agenda for restructuring the country. He is however, yet to convince critics on how his envisaged privatisation of key national institutions will be handled to re-float the economy, when as former Vice President and Chairman of the National Privatisation Council, who supervised the exercise in the past, not much was realised from the disposal of such national assets. He has also not pinned down his economic recovery scheme on Naira and Kobo terms.
Atiku’s pledge of restructuring the country, if elected, is also being received among informed analysts with a great deal of caution, given that the ruling APC had advertised such promised while seeking for votes in 2015 but dropped the agenda on coming to power. Lawyers also note that restructuring is not an issue of executive fiat but that which entails reworking the existing constitution to make it accommodated in the laws of the land. The process which would require the agreement of the two houses of the National Assembly and at least 24 out of the 36 state houses of assembly, nationwide, is not what the PDP candidate, can easily actualise in his years in office.
At 73, age may also not be too friendly with him in actualizing some of the good intentions he may have for the country. But perhaps, Atiku’s greatest challenge in the court of public opinion, is the allegation of corruption that Obasanjo hung on him while they were at each other’s throat. Even without conviction by any court in the land, nor any indictment by any panel, Atiku has had to live with the odious tag that has done considerable damage to his reputation. When his opponents drag the insinuation to the extent of daring him to visit the United States of America (USA) and get arrested, it further sends wrong impression on his person, among undecided voters.
Atiku on top of his game
But the former Vice President, is not one to be cowed by challenges. While he took on Obasanjo in their heady days, not many gave him chances of pulling through. But despite the mountain of intrigues and conspiracies against him, he succeeded in getting around the situation unscathed. In the present circumstance, he has not been deterred by the so-called power of incumbency in going against Buhari. With three years younger than the President and more active physically and grasp of issues, he seems good to go.
Unlike Buhari who is also taciturn and reclusive, Atiku is expressive and expansive. With an impressive network of friends and associates in many states and regions of the country, Atiku brandishes a Pan-Nigerian outlook that not even his harshest critics would take away from him. Besides, the present government has opened a wide range of flanks that Atiku and his party, the PDP, can exploit and reintroduce themselves to Nigerians in seeking another opportunity. How well this is harnessed, is another matter.
The Man, Atiku
Atiku Abubakar, born in Jada, Adamawa Sate on November 25, 1946, was Vice President between 1999 and 2007. At the onset of the current dispensation, he was elected governor of Adamawa State before being picked by Obasanjo to be his running mate in the 1999 presidential election. While his relationship with Obasanjo took turns for the worse, he left PDP and ran for the presidency on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) in 2007 and lost to late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
In the run-up to the 2011 elections, he returned to the PDP, sought the ticket of the party but lost to the then President Goodluck Jonathan at the primary. He left PDP and tried his luck for the presidency under the newly formed APC in 2015 but lost to Buhari at the party’s primary. His return to the PDP last year, was accompanied by his declaration to run for the office on the platform of the party. At the Port Harcourt convention of the party, he emerged the flag bearer, beating other aspirants with a wide margin.
The outcome of the February 16 election will determine whether he would realise his ambition of being Nigeria’s president.