IMPUDENCE. That is the word that captures the audacity of Peter Obi, trader, investor, public speaker, former governor of Anambra State and, in 2019, running mate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to walk away from the main opposition party on the eve of that party’s presidential primary. And to think that Obi had traversed all of 35 states to canvass support of the party’s delegates for the May 28 and 29 primary. He walked when he saw the writing on the wall that he was headed for a disastrous outing, if he trudged on. He observed, and correctly too, that what was on display was a combination of a bazaar and an auction and a contest for the highest bidder for the delegates to the Abuja convention.
How do you scorn a behemoth and a political party that reigned and ruled this country for the first 16 years since the return to democracy in 1999? A party that some people feel could win back the presidency in 2023 after what will surely be eight years of spectacular failure by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) political party with the President, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the helm. How many people will willing turn their backs to the thrills and frills of a royal wedding to attend the dull and dour funeral of a pauper? Only a Peter Obi.
The tragedy is that the PDP primary turned out worse than could ever be imagined. It was a brazen bazaar. It was an ugly auction. It was a stomach-churning spectacle. And it had all the traces and hallmarks of feudalism on public display. Indeed, at a stage, the ineffective and politically compromised Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interjected itself into the process. There is still no evidence that the anti-graft agency came out of that venture with anything that could be beneficial to Nigerians. In fact, the joke in town, given EFCC’s antecedent, was that the agency moved in for what it could get from the United States dollar rain. Those who probably have a grouse with the EFCC alleged that the agency’s operatives at the primary acquired the status of super delegates. All deities do not get the same golden handshake.
In an uncanny manner, when Obi left the PDP the national attention shifted to his person. Questions followed in torrents. What happens to him? Where is he headed? Is this the end of Obi’s brand of politics? Has he made a terrible mistake? Apart from the PDP and the APC, is there any other political party with structures and name recognition and following on whose platform he could pursue his unique brand of politicking? And many more questions with no answers.
While these questions persisted and ahead of the emergence of Obi as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), something else was happening. That thing had to do with the so-called national leader of the APC, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was campaigning for the presidential ticket of his party to fulfill what he said had been his “lifelong ambition” to be the President of Nigeria.
Tinubu had virtually seized media headlines and airwaves since January when he told Nigerians that he had told Buhari about his determination to become Nigeria’s President in 2023. His movements and his statements and even the counter-claims of those opposed to him dominated the media space. For good or for ill, Tinubu was the issue until Peter Obi left the PDP, joined the Labour Party and picked the presidential ticket after no less than two personages stepped down for him. The incipient changing narrative of the race to the presidency in 2023 blossomed with the tailwind propelling Obi to the front row. A tailwind for Obi inevitably translated to a headwind for Tinubu. Peter Obi sucked the media oxygen and national discourse focus from Tinubu. And there have been consequences.
The immediate consequence of apparently Tinubu not being the dominant issue in the media and the centre of national focus was his miserable and potentially highly costly and career-ending meltdown in Abeokuta, Ogun State, last Thursday. Sucked of media oxygen in spite of being a media owner, deprived of national attention and suspecting that the cabal in his party had a sword on the thin string of his “lifelong ambition” to become President, Tinubu lashed out and unfurled the first phase of his promise to “fight dirty” in his quest to capture the presidency.
He said the man, Buhari, who was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019 on the platform of the party, which he, Tinubu, has been humoured as its national leader, was a serial election loser. That was a fact. But in politics in our clime not all facts are convenient to be canvassed publicly. Not when you know that you are a target for destruction by the wolves in your party. Tinubu said Buhari cried on national television when he lost an election at the third attempt. That was factual. But do you ridicule a President who has enormous powers in the determination of who becomes the presidential standard-bearer so close to the primary? Tinubu said he made Buhari President. That was a blatant lie and a poor attempt at revisionism. The most Tinubu can claim is that he played a significant role in the emergence of Buhari as President.
For a start, Tinubu did not inspire nor did he initiate the processes that led to the merger of the legacy parties, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), that became the APC ahead of the 2015 elections. If any should claim credit for the emergence of Buhari as President, it would be the renegade and sectarian and hypocritical elements in the then ruling PDP who claimed that, on the strength of the provision of rotation, the presidency should swing to the North. The PDP President at the material time, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was of the minority stock in the South.
Tinubu’s quest for the APC ticket has been uncertain. His display in Abeokuta last week will not be of any help. Truth be told, the throwing of tantrums by Tinubu was an early sign and revelation to Nigerians, outside his rabid supporters, that the man does not have the emotional stability and temperament to be Nigeria’s President in 2023 or at any time for that matter. Sadly, his fate would have been finally decided by his party by the time you read this. Already, the party’s national chairman had said on Saturday that there could be sanctions on Tinubu for insulting the President.
Meanwhile, buccaneers, powers and principalities of Nigerian politics are already in overdrive with analyses of who is better placed to win the presidency next year.
Many of them have written off contenders on platforms other than the APC and the PDP. And their dismissal includes Peter Obi. This is good news. Obi is at his best when he is the underdog.
How many people gave him a chance to wrest the governorship from the PDP in Anambra State when he contested on the APGA platform? Who gave him a chance when he fought through the courts for three long years to recover his stolen mandate from the same PDP? Who thought he would fight tenaciously in court to overturn his illegal impeachment by the PDPdominated House of Assembly. Who was with him when he battled the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] in the Supreme Court to abort the election of another ‘governor’ for the state while his [Obi’s] tenure subsisted. That singular action led to staggered elections in this country.
Instructively, this time is different. Nigeria’s political powers and principalities are in for a shock. Peter Obi no longer walks alone. He is not just a candidate, he is a movement. Many Nigerians are disenchanted and the story of Obi resonates especially with the younger generation. The naysayers humour themselves by saying that the Generation Z are twitter tigers and that there are no polling booths on the social media. Awe and shock await them. The pundits say that Labour Party and Obi have no structures to deliver the presidency. The APC and PDP are yet to appreciate the depth of the anger and frustration of many Nigerians. They say Obi is ‘aka gum’ or stingy and does not have money to fund our expensive presidential election. Again, they are wrong because they are not paying attention. Obi can fund any election in Nigeria if it is for a good cause. Who funded his governorship election in Anambra state? Who paid the legal fees for his numerous battles in courts? Who bankrolled APGA and turned it into a perennial winning machine in Anambra state?
Labour Party is owned by Nigerian workers through their umbrella bodies. They have presence in the nooks and crannies of this country. What greater human structure would anybody wish for than the youths of Nigeria whose future is being stolen by the political brigands. The robbers of Nigeria seem to have forgotten the organization and mobilization that attended recent youth mass actions in this country. We know the APC and PDP game when they talk about structure. They are merely preparing the ground to steal the 2023 presidential election. Nigerians should not allow themselves to be swindled. APC and PDP cannot win and they should not be allowed to steal the election. Nigeria will not survive under the yoke of either PDP or APC. The youths have the power through the ballot box to effect a change and take back their country. They should use it because there may be no better opportunity than this election cycle.