There is no doubting the fact that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will have enormous task in its hands when it finally begin the screening of the aspirants who picked the expression of intent form of the party to gun for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Towering above all the aspirants is the incumbent president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, the only one amongst the pack who already has a running mate in the person of the former governor of Kaduna state, Architect Namadi Sambo.
The campaigns for the party ticket have been on and this discourse wouldn’t have been necessary if not for the diversions and divisive tendencies introduced into the process by some of the candidates.
First was the conspiracy of the self serving candidates from the north to divide the country through their fabled search for a so-called consensus aspirant. The search was limited to the aspirants of the northern extraction because of the deceit from those propounding the theory that the presidency in 2011 is the birth right of the north.
This is a fundamental flaw in the aspiration of the northern candidates because Nigeria is not the North alone but an amalgam of over 250 ethnic nationalities distributed among six geopolitical zones. Incidentally the champions of this consensus theory were Atiku and IBB, who believed though erroneously that they stand better chances of being accepted by the generality of north to have their mandate.
These two cleverly linked Gusau and Saraki, just to create the semblance of transparency and without taking into consideration the power bases of the others in the north and the interests they intend to project.
Sadly enough the Northern Leaders Political Forum (NLPF), chaired by Mallam Adamu Ciroma and populated mainly by Atiku’s men shot themselves on the feet. They excluded the only female presidential aspirant from the North, Sarah Jubril in the so-called consensus talks.
This clearly demonstrates the level of ineptitude, insincerity and chauvinism that the self-acclaimed northern leaders forum has displayed in the conduct of a democratic exercise. Though, the Ciroma-led NLPF has picked Atiku as the consensus aspirant for the North. While IBB, Gusau and Saraki have promised to rally round him to clinched the PDP’s presidential ticket, the other issue now is the claim of experience by Atiku who arrogate to himself the all-knowing powers which only God himself possesses.
The former Vice President had in several of his advertisements and radio and television jingles dangle this as the selling point of his campaign. Without being uncharitable, one would want Atiku to define the experience he means; is it academic experience, traditional experience or administrative or political experience?
Investigation revealed that of all the aspirants so far for the presidency of the country, the least in academic qualification is Atiku whose highest level of education is a Diploma in law obtained in 1967. Atuku needs to ask Rev. (Barrister) Chris Okotie, the presidential candidate of Fresh Party where the diploma can lead him to in the legal profession.
Admitted that Atiku’s CV reads that he worked as a customs officer for 20 years before joining business and later politics, his claim of having the widest political experience may be punctuated by the simple fact that he has held political office only for eight years as a troublesome and highly cantankerous vice president under chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
In fact it is out of magnanimity that Nigerians could give him the eight years from 1999 to 2007 but everyone knows that all of that experience was just limited because apart from the first term where his boss delegated some responsibilities to him, including the privatization and commercialization programmes, which he (Atiku) messed up, the rest of the period he spent in fighting his boss because of his inordinate ambition to take over his seat. Under a military set up, Atiku could have staged a coup but thanks to democracy because true democrats could not condone such.
One is not in doubt that Atiku was a foundation member of PDP but if one really goes back to the political platform that thrown him up which was the PDM of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s elder brother, late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, one wonders why it was difficult for Atiku to support Umaru’s administration knowing full well that without the tutelage of Shehu he would have been nowhere politically. It will therefore not be out of place for one to argue that Atuku simply betrayed the Yar’Adua’s.
According to findings, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan began his civil service career as a customs officer after his school certificate examination. He then proceeded to the university for a degree programme. Thereafter he had 10 years of unbroken service as a lecturer in the River State College of Education before moving to the defunct MPADEC as an Assistant Director.
Jonathan resigned from the office in 1998 and moved straight into politics and had served as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa state, then became Governor after the ousting of Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha from where he was nominated as running mate to late President Umaru Yaradua in the 2007 presidential polls.
Both were elected and out of divine providence Jonathan graduated from Vice president to Acting President and now President of the country. What is this progression called? Is it not experience? Jonathan has it more than any other PDP aspirants.
No wonder while addressing a marmot gathering in Ibadan at the weekend, Vice President Namadi Sambo who happens to be Jonathan’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election harped that Jonathan was the most experience aspirant amongst all the PDP’s presidential aspirants for the 2011 election.
According to him, “Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was a former Deputy Governor of Bayelsa state. He was a former Governor of Bayelsa state. Jonathan was also a former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was also a former Acting President of Nigeria. And now he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Tell me who among all the other presidential aspirants that is more experienced”.
It is also the views of some political pundit that there will be no other running mate that will be more experienced than Sambo. To those who hold this view, Namadi Sambo was the former Governor of Kaduna state before he became the Vice President of Nigeria. This group of analysts therefore challenged any of the other aspirants, including Atiku himself, to project a running mate that will be more experienced than Sambo in governance.
The point being made here is that the electorate will not be deceived by the frivolous claims of aspirants just because they want to take over power. It is quite obvious that every one’s track records will count in the choice of who leads Nigeria in 2011. So far the credentials of Jonathan and Sambo are enough to give them the PDP ticket and return them to office with ease.
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