Chamba Simeh
Now, the chickens are coming home to roost. Presidential aspirants for the January 2015 general elections are beginning to emerge with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) taking the first shot, his sixth successive attempt. Other presidential frontliners on the platform of APC include former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, who has always been in the race, the Governor of Edo State and former NLC President, Adams Oshiomhole, who has also submitted his letter of intent, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, is also being touted to join the presidential race.
Although APC’s presidential primary promises to be a battle of the titans, last week’s declaration of intent by Atiku seems to have elicited more reactions from Nigerians across the divide than any other aspirant. And this is for obvious reasons. The Adamawa state born politician’s eight-year tenure (1999 – 2007) as Nigeria’s Vice President was probably the most tortuous, and crisis-riddled in the nation’s history. Atiku is also seen as a politician who lacks principles or ideology given the frequency and deftness by which he abandons one political party for another, even if such a party was formed by him. The Turakin Adamawa, who anchored the economic reforms of the Obasanjo administration in its formative years, also appears to carry the baggage of failed promises and squandered opportunities and resources of that government.
However, Atiku, who also holds the traditional title of Sardauna Ganye, has the defence of alibi that could exculpate him from culpability of the foregoing charges. Alibi is a defence available to an accused person charged with committing a crime at a time and date on which he was not at the scene of the crime but was somewhere else. In other words, alibi means somewhere else. The danger with alibi is that if it fails, it forecloses any other defence from being raised on the matter. Consequently, whereas the defence of alibi is available to the former vice president, who seems to find favour with litigation, there is the need to exercise caution in order to avoid a backlash.
Notwithstanding the fact that Long Arm has not had any brief from Atiku, it is clear that under the American presidential system of government, which Nigeria practices, the president is the donee of power and deploys it as he wishes. Thus, the president could delegate or assign responsibility to anyone he desires, irrespective of whether he is the vice president or not. This was the situation in which Atiku found himself when he ran out of favour with his boss, then President Olusegun Obasanjo, in the last lap of the administration. In fact, the then President Obasanjo did not only strip Atiku of his official functions and paraphernalia, thereby rendering him administratively impotent, but he also attempted to bar his deputy from office. Atiku had to seek redress in court in order to serve his remaining term as vice president. The effect of this presidential fisticuff was that the economic reforms being driven by Atiku were stalled at their infancy, with the nation at the receiving end.
Atiku’s perceived lack of political ideology could be gleaned from the premise of the derailment and hijacking of the concept of the founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on which platform Atiku was elected Vice president. It is trite to state that a political party is a congregation of like minds who share the same or similar prejudices and predilections. Having lost these fundamental objectives in the PDP, Atiku was left with no option than to find his bearings elsewhere. This explains his relentless expedition for a political party that would provide answers to the Nigerian question; and nothing, not even the political party, the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), formed by the former vice president could stop Atiku from this search. Finally, Atiku has pitched his tent with the new but formidable APC, where he hopes to actualize his ambition, vowing that APC is his last bus-stop.
Just in case anyone is in doubt, Atiku’s political ideology could be discerned from his declaration of presidential intent in Abuja last week. Atiku, who lamented that Nigeria was on auto pilot, said, “The 2015 election is about you. It is about how to ensure that you live safe and secured lives. It is about making sure that you feed well, receive quality and affordable education and training, secure good jobs, support your own families and contribute positively to the development of our country. This is what a responsive and responsible government owes its citizens. This is what our generation owes upcoming generations. This is what we must do to guarantee our country’s future. This is what democracy promises”.
Whether Atiku gets his party’s presidential ticket or not one thing stands out – the man looks prepared, suitable and qualified to occupy the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
