Endorsements that will shape 2019 polls
Few weeks to the 2019 general elections, the political atmosphere in the country is charged, as different groups are outdoing one another and mounting pressure on the polity, especially with the endorsements of two presidential candidates of the leading p
The presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar respectively are locked in an intense battle for the presidential seat in 2019.
Findings by show that individuals and groups are surreptitiously “trading” endorsements of the two leading contenders, even though other presidential candidates are also getting “subtle” endorsements.
However, some analysts believe that simple endorsement by a group or an individual would not likely make much impact in today’s political clime, more so that the electorate has become more enlightened on the power of its vote.
“Nigeria of today is not the Nigeria of yesterday because those who cast votes are more sophisticated,” Aminu Mohammed, a political analyst, said.
“Many groups or individuals simply endorse on the pages of newspapers after collecting money from desperate politicians, but they do not have the outreach to convince any other voter. In fact, some of them do not even have voter’s card,” he said.
Over 60 other opposition parties are also fielding candidates for the presidency; but the battle line has been drawn between candidates of the two “big” parties, signaling that Buhari will either retain his seat or lose it to Atiku.
However, although some of the parties have their candidates, many of them, nonetheless, joined a political platform called the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) which adopted Atiku as its sole candidate for the February, 2019, presidential poll.
Convener of CUPP, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who made the disclosure while addressing a world press conference in Abuja, said the former vice president met the criteria used in the choice of a presidential candidate for the coalition.
Prince Oyinlola noted that CUPP, an umbrella body of 45 registered political parties, arrived at the decision based on Atiku’s experience in administration, economic management and politics.
However, some political parties like SDP, GDPN and KOWA which were listed among those that endorsed Atiku have since distanced themselves from the claim.
Shortly after the formation of CUPP, the National Chairman of the APC, Com. Adams Oshiomhole, described them as “dead political parties.
“They said they are doing alliance, Peugeot 404 and Volkswagen, can the dead rise again?” Oshiomhole asked.
A former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who was one of those that played key roles for the emergence of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as president in the 2015 general elections, has since passed a vote of no confidence on President Buhari and has since shifted grounds.
On Wednesday, December 26, Obasanjo bragged that he was the success story behind Buhari.
“In 2015, if I didn’t support Buhari, he wouldn’t have won the election,” he said while addressing a large gathering during the 2018 Ibogun Day Celebration in Ogun State.
“I have what it takes to correct him (Buhari). Nigeria should not be in the position we are today. Nigeria can be better. God has given us all that we need.
“I am qualified to speak against Buhari. One, I have done it before. Two, I have shed my blood for this country. Even my biological son has shed his blood. Why can’t I speak about what is best for this country? I am doubly qualified to do that,” he said.
At a time, a chieftain of APC and former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Mr. Rotimi Fasakin, said the former president should not be taken seriously.
“When anybody mentions ex-President Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo as being instrumental to anything, you just wonder what exactly our problem in this country is. How can anybody say that Obasanjo was instrumental to Buhari’s emergence as president? Which role did he play? he asked.
Obasanjo, who recorded Atiku in his bad books following the former’s antagonism to his third term ambition while serving as his vice between 1999 and 2007, later declared that he had forgiven Atiku, and as well anointed him as the next president; thus, condemning Buhari’s second term bid.
The former president made his endorsement when Atiku and leaders of the PDP visited him at his Abeokuta residence recently, saying he believed that Atiku had “re-discovered and re-positioned himself” and now was good enough to enjoy his support.
This came as a surprise to many considering that Obasanjo, prior to the 2015 polls, tore his PDP membership card in a dramatic fashion and declared he was no longer a member of the then ruling party, but that he preferred to be regarded as an elder statesman.
But while Obasanjo has anointed Atiku to take over the apex seat in the land, his son, Olujonwo Obasanjo, has spurned his father’s rejection of President Buhari and asked Nigerians to re-elect the latter, saying he has positioned Nigeria on the correct path.
Another former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has also thrown his weight behind Atiku after his emergence as the PDP candidate at the party’s national convention held in Port Harcourt in October this year.
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) also rejected Buhari recently, scoring him low in terms of performance and endorsed Atiku as the next president.
Few weeks ago, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) was dilly-dallying as to who it should support between Buhari and Atiku; considering that both are Muslim Fulani from the North; even though its chapters in Bauchi and Niger have tilted their support towards Buhari.
However, on Thursday, The National President of MACBAN, Muhammadu Kirowa, announced that they had endorsed Buhari. Kirowa stated this at the 2018 Annual General Meeting of MACBAN held at the International Women Development Centre in Abuja.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), however, said it would not endorse either Atiku or Buhari, but preferred to be neutral.
However, the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), led by its National President, Alhaji Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, told newsmen recently that the group had decided not to endorse Buhari on grounds of his failure to guarantee the security of lives and property and alleged corruption under his watch.
AYF, however, did not endorse any candidate publicly.
While many groups and stakeholders in the PDP in the South East, where Atiku’s running mate, Chief Peter Obi, hails from, and other geo-political zones have endorsed Atiku, President Buhari has also found himself in the good books of some relevant stakeholders in the polity who have endorsed his candidature.
A pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation, Afenifere, on December 20, endorsed Buhari for a second term.
Afenifere’s spokesman, Biodun AkinFasae, told newsmen in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at the end of a meeting of Yoruba leaders from the six states in the South West, that any other group that failed to align with their position would be treated as usurpers and renegades.
However, it is imperative to state that in 2015, the PDP Governors’ Forum (PGF) was the first organ to endorse the party’s then candidate, a siiting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. However, that did not guarantee his re-election.
In Buhari’s case, some political pundits say the fear is coming from the angle that some of the APC governors who endorsed him also had presidential ambition, but did not show up because Buhari didn’t decline to run.
But a former presidential candidate and current National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, told our correspondent in a telephone chat that the endorsements would change the decision of the electorate to a large extent.
Chief Okorie, an elder statesman, however, said, “If a political party, for instance, endorses the presidential candidate of another party and still fields a presidential candidate for the same election, the endorsement will be gibberish.
“In case of the UPP, we adopted President Muhammadu Buhari as our candidate and the party has no presidential candidate for the election.”
Similarly, a former presidential candidate and current National Chairman of the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), Dr. Sam Eke, told
that the endorsement of various candidates would “effectively change the attitude of voters and gear them towards a particular direction.”
Also, a former presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr. Martins Onovo, said endorsement of candidates by ex-presidents, heads of state or prominent groups and organisations like Afenifere attracted much support and influenced the voting pattern in any electioneering.
recalls that in 2015, hundreds of associations adopted both Jonathan and Buhari but as soon as the election was decided, most of them fizzled out and their role could not be ascertained.
Even this time, Buhari has hundreds of associations rooting for him, including the Buhari Support Organisation (BMO) led by Customs Comptroller, Hameed Ali, which brought together many smaller organisations, and another one, the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups (NCBSG) led by Sen. Abu Ibrahim (APC, Katsina) which brought together hundreds of other organisations.
At the last count, Atiku also has over 300 groups rooting for his election; but the question is whether they would all play different roles this time around that will prove their efficacy.