Perhaps this might sound abet controversial coming from me an advocate for a new political order and a champion for youth inclusiveness in our political system.
This is something I have given a very serious thought and have invested my time researching about in past couple of months.
Politics is far deeper than our emotions and sentiments would permit and so one must put on a thinking cap to analyze our nation’s political system.
Atiku/Obi remains the best option for the Peoples Democratic Party in the coming general elections, they pulled a total vote of 11,262,978 in the 2019 elections that is 3,928,869 less than that of the current president, this figure was challenged in the court and was also debated in the court of public opinion, I am one of those that believe that the 2019 election was massively rigged in favour of president Buhari, but all that is water under the bridge now.
Considering our population distribution, it is understood that the North has the votes, so it’s imperative that we pay a very good attention to where the votes will come from, in 2019 Alhaji Atiku won all the South Eastern states with a good margin and all the south-south too except in Edo where the margin was very slim, yet he could not win the election, hence it’s important for us to analyze the situation without sentiment, in 2011, president Jonathan did a very good job in the North and won the election.
What we need now as a party is a combination that can guarantee us a good performance in the general election in the North and maintain a good lead in the south east and south-south.
Atiku Abubakar remains a good candidate from the north after president buhari, he is the second most popular politician in the north and a cosmopolitan political figure that can put up a good fight in Lagos state and Kano state, Peter Obi is liked by many young Nigerians, but the truth is that many of them DO NOT vote, many of the so called social media influences do not have PVCs, hence they can easily mislead the people to think that a particular candidate is popular, but in reality such popularity does not go beyond the pages of social media.
Kingsley moghalu was meant to believe he was popular in 2019 so was Sowore and Fela Durotoye, I remember Fela’s boast about having almost one million followers on Instagram in one of the debate platforms in the build up to 2019 elections, one would have thought that such would translate to votes and volunteers at the critical time, but….
The combination of Atiku and Peter Obi is not just good for the PDP, it is also good for the country, we need a team that can get the job done, it is as simple as that. I know many will say I am endorsing corruption, but the truth is that our political system is just what it is at the moment, and it would be foolish for one to think that we can change it easily, it would take time, it will require our participation right in the center of the political engine room to begin to create the nation of our dreams, I have come to this realization because of my adventure into the mainstream politics at the grassroots level.
Many of our beautiful ideas and good plans get lost on their way down the ladders of our political structures, many of the voters in our local areas where votes come from do not understand big grammar and philosophical political quotes, many of them see politics as business where they get paid every four years, I know you want to change that, I do too, but it is just not that simple.
So money will still play a significant role in the 2023 elections despite the new electoral law of 2022, a combination of deep pocket and popularity is what would work in favour of Atiku/Obi ticket and anything short of that would be a herculean task for the PDP not minding whoever the ruling party fields as its own presidential candidate.
I believe Alh. Atiku Abubakar is one of the fittest persons of his age around the world, so the conversation about his age is not so much of a big deal as many would want to make it, considering also that the vice presidential candidate is also capable of piloting the affairs of our great country, so even if by the reason of age, the president becomes health encumbered, we are sure our vice president can run the affairs of the country without so much challenges.
One very important point to also note is that the vice president is constitutionally tasked with the responsibility of chairing the National Economic Council, this is the area of strength for Mr Obi and it would be expected that the economy of the country will grow astronomically with his wealth of experience and his much taunted achievement while he was the executive governor of Anambra state.
So without so much ado, I call on the leadership of our party to queue behind these two men to give us the much deserved victory in the 2023 general elections and pilot the nation’s to its glory days, let all the others who have indicated interest to contest for the same seat jettison the idea for now, PDP must go into this election as one party with the sole purpose of rescuing the country.
People like Prince Deji Adeyanju should think deeper before clamoring for a south eastern president, the most important task ahead of our party now is winning this election convincingly and I believe Atiku/Obi ticket remains the only viable option for now and I believe it is also the surest way of getting an Igbo president in the shortest possible time.
Engr. Mathias Tsado writes from Bida in Niger State
