15th July, 2022
By Annabel Ogheneganre
“This is what you call team selection and everybody will choose depending on what they think will give them a fair chance. So people will take responsibility for the choices they have made. For me, it is not something to lose sleep over. If people feel unhappy with the kind of choices that have been made, that is why we are democrats, you can’t force it. We outsiders cannot force a choice of any candidate. It is now left for you to look at the choices that have been made. And there is no guarantee that all Christians will vote for Christians and all Muslims will vote for Muslims.
-Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese
When you read comments by PDP enthusiasts concerning the choice of Vice Presidential running-mate for the APC Presidential Candidate ahead of the 2023 general elections, one may be deluded to believe the party loves Nigeria more than itself. The religion kite is flying to high heavens. To the uninformed, Christians have been shortchanged by the Muslim-Muslim ticket being flown by the APC. And to the PDP goons who never saw this coming, particularly the PDP strategists, who thought APC would bring a weak Christian from the north so they could ride roughshod against APC in the North, it was a big shocker to discover that APC saw through their pretentious love for the people and decided to go for a brand that could match the desperate Abubakar Atiku as the political chess game for 2023 continue to unfold. It was a killer punch.
If there is any political party that should be crucified for taking the southern Nigeria-dominated Christians for granted, that party should be the PDP. The party knew very well that what is of major concern for Nigerians is zoning of political positions between the Northern and Southern belts of the country. Nigerians believe that power should revolve between North and South at least every 8 years, yet in the quest to get the votes of northern Nigeria in 2023 and hit APC below the belt, PDP went for another Fulani man in Atiku Abubakar, knowing full well that President Muhammadu Buhari is a Fulani man who would be rounding off his second term in Aso Rock by May 2023. By PDP’s calculation, the North can continue to rule Nigeria so the South could be slave forever so long as they could grab power from the APC.
PDP knows very well that the party stands no chance against the APC in 2023 all things being equal. Of Nigeria’s 36 states, APC is in control of 23 states while PDP and APGA are 12 and one respectively. That effectively places the PDP in a highly disadvantageous position in the political equation of 2023. So what the party decided to do was to push the Presidential ticket to the North in the vain hope that should APC pick her candidate from the South, the north will vote overwhelmingly for the Northern candidate irrespective of party affiliations. As things stand, the only hope for PDP to return to Aso Rock is for the North to betray Ahmed Bola Tinubu by voting for Atiku Abubakar in 2023. That is the simple calculation and intense prayers of most PDP leaders since they stand no chance against APC in the coming presidential election.
But the almighty question is what if APC decide to remain faithful to the party and vote for the man they settled for at the primaries! Politics is deep and Nigerians are generally committed to voting a southern president in 2023. That is one reason why the Peter Obi phenomenon is gaining momentum by the day. And frankly speaking, the rise of Peter Obi should be of more concern to the PDP because Obi’s strongest support base is in the PDP dominated south. The religion kite being flown by PDP cannot sway the informed because, I am yet to see the gain of Yemi Osinbajo Vice Presidency to southern Nigeria and Christianity in the past 7 years. In the event of Atiku’s victory, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa cannot stand against the onslaught of Fulani herdsmen and bandits in southern Nigeria. Okowa as a shrewd political tactician is only after power and personal welfare. Okowa will not be in Aso Rock to represent the interest of Christians in Nigeria. So to push the failed argument of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the face cannot fly.
Bishop Hassan Mathew Kukah said it all, ‘’everybody will choose depending on what they think will give them a fair chance.’’ PDP chose Atiku believing he could give them a fair chance at stepping into Aso Rock in 2023. APC has chosen Kashim Ibrahim Shettima, immediate past Governor of Borno State believing he is the man who could assuage the Muslim-dominated North to sway the votes in favour of APC. In fact PDP is worried that their plan to fly the Northern interest kite against APC may not work with Senator Kashim Shettima in the ballot with Tinubu against Atiku. PDP knows that on the performance and integrity scale, Shettima is a better personality than Okowa. What the party has resorted to doing is to continue to pull the wool in the eyes of Nigerians by flying the religious kite to condemn APC to failure. That, I think, will not work.
Atiku Abubakar shares the same religious tendencies with Buhari as both men are Fulani Muslims. There is no guarantee that Atiku will handle the Boko Haram onslaughts on Nigeria better. If there is anybody who could be trusted as capable of changing the narratives in 2023, that person should either be Bola Tinubu or Peter Obi. Atiku does not fit the bill. The greatest challenge facing Nigerians today is insecurity. Many people have stopped traveling long distances due to the security situation in the land. Tinubu is not a fanatical or radical Muslim. He is conservative and having lived with a Christian woman as wife for over 30 years, he could manage the security situation better for the people.
In 1993 when Nigerians voted M.K.O Abiola and Babagana Kingibe of the then SDP, the people did not care about their religious backgrounds. But for his health status, Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be a better personality than Atiku Abubakar who has been so inconsistent in political persuasions over the years. Tinubu had been consistent with the opposition like Buhari before the latter emerged president in 2015. Tinubu had calculated well and having waited for when power will naturally revolve to southern Nigeria, he has indicated interest in running for president, not choosing to alter the political equation as Atiku is doing.
The Muslim-Muslim ticket may offend some interest groups but what is of most importance is capability and ability to put Nigeria on the path of progress. For me, 2023 is the turn of southern Nigeria and either of the presidential candidates from the south should have it. PDP got it all wrong when it betrayed Nyesom Wike for Atiku with Ifeanyi Okowa as mastermind of the betrayal of the southern cause. In Delta north for instance, Muslims are not up to 10 percent of the voting population yet many Christians are rooting for Ned Nwoko, a complete Muslim, for senate to represent the people. Yet, the same PDP elements, who voted the Muslim as candidate may still be complaining of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in APC. The hypocrisy of our people is legendary. For me, let us drop the religious argument and opt for competence and ability to deliver. Religion should not be a factor in the search for the next president of Nigeria. Yemi Osinbajo and Goodluck Jonathan did not help Christianity with their position as Vice President over the years. What matters most is the president. Clamouring for a northern president to succeed Buhari is a most satanic, wicked, and odious form of self delusion and slavery that must be avoided in 2023.
Annabel Ogheneganre writes from Garki, Abuja. ([email protected])