Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has picked PDP presidential nomination form for the 2023 election. The amount is hefty, N40 million, making sure that teachers like us will stay out! With Atiku in, the equation changes in the nation. People, it is all permanent interest, no permanent enemy or friend!
Now, the most important phase: the zoning arrangement. If APC zones to South and PDP goes North, expect the balance to flip. Why? Southwest and Southeast politicians seem not aligned. The SE politicians have maintained that fairness demands that if APC zones the president to the South (they have), that SW politicians should leave it for them. Of course, Senator Bola Tinubu is already in, which means that arrangement is not working.
Atiku’s chance of being the next President brightens if PDP zones it to the North. APC’s biggest risk is a SW ticket; the North will move PDP, making a point that if the North agrees to zone the ticket to South, it expects the SW to return the love for SE, if fairness and equity should rule. But where SW refuses, they see no reason for allowing power to move South.
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I have expected PDP to zone the ticket to the South. But with Atiku going ahead, surprises can happen. Why? Who can write the big cheques for a national campaign?
Yes, the Igbo Nation said it loud and clear: “anaghi eji anya egbu agu” [you do not kill a leopard by merely looking at it]. If you want the Presidency, you need to battle for it because justice, fairness, and equity rarely work in Nigeria.
I wish we do not need zoning to select a president. But why not when we “quota” everything? And since that is part of our system, modify the Constitution and allow the damn office to rotate across zones!
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Well, N40 million is not hefty for presidential ticket, because if your candidature is marketable, your supporters can easily raise the money; Davido raised over N250 million within days, so a teacher with national appeal can easily raise N100 million to purchase a ticket anyway.
As for the zoning, I think at the end of the day, PDP will lose out. Yes, it may look tempting and politically expedient by undercutting APC via a northern candidate, but it can easily backfire, making the party to equally lose its Southeast and Southsouth support base, the party leaders should be smarter, they cannot be that dumb.
Both APC and PDP have a chance to give Nigerians a robust and issue based campaigns in the months ahead, just by fielding candidates that are already known and are relatable. If APC throws up Tinubu and the PDP throws up Atiku, we have all lost out! Why? Because we will spend months accusing and arguing on who’s more corrupt, who’s healthier, and who’s older, with everyone shouting to be heard; we will never be able to scrutinize who has the capabilities to advance our lives.
Can the APC throw up Osinbajo and PDP Peter Obi? With these, we will have a carnival, and whoever wins, Nigeria will definitely win, it’s a guarantee!