Former Vice PresidentAtiku Abubakar\u2019s \u2018resignation\u2019 from the APC is a<\/p>\n
minus to the party; while his returnto the PDP is a plus to the
\nopposition, PDP. Atiku claims his main reasons forresignation from the APC
\ninclude the failure of the Buhari government tofulfill its promises and
\nother unresolved party matters. But even the blind cansee that the fear of
\nfacing Muhammadu Buhari at APC presidential primaries is Atiku\u2019sreal
\nreason for resignation from the APC.<\/p>\n
As things standsnow, APC could not in any way persuades Atiku to stay in
\nthe\u00a0 party, because Atiku\u2019s 2019 presidential\u00a0 ambition was triggered and
\nfounded on thepremise that Buhari will not survive his health conditions.
\nAtiku thencalculated that with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo being in power
\ngoing into2019 elections, he can be able to play the regional card
\n(North\u2019s remaining fouryears) to battle APC presidential ticket with
\nOsinbajo; as he did but failedagainst Jonathan in 2011- the
\nill-thought-out northern consensus candidate byMallam Adamu Ciroma-led
\nNorthern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF)<\/p>\n
Since Atiku\u2019s calculationto secure APC\u2019s presidential ticket now has
\nfailed, a return to the PDP is theonly option available. For him, apart
\nfrom an opportunity to avoid Buhari in theprimaries, returning to the PDP
\nwas designed to achieve some political maneuvers.Atiku knows he has good
\npolitical structures that make the PDP battle field mucheasier, albeit on
\npaper. With only 11 governors and \u00a0very weak at the centre, Atiku will
\nfind itvery easy to \u2018box\u2019 PDP delegates without state governor as well as
\nmake somesmart maneuvers to easily secure PDP presidential ticket.
\nHowever, the PDPchallenge would not be that easy\u2013there are people like
\nSule Lamido, who is aproduct of the Aminu Kano radical politics of the
\nnorth. Lamido is from thecore Hausa-Fulani states and has large followers.
\nFurthermore, his \u2018cousins\u2019 inthe northeast will have nothing against him.
\nThe middle-belt and many northernminorities share his politics of
\nradicalism. Another big challenge for Atiku isGombe state governor,
\nIbrahim Hassan Dankwambo. Dankwambo is one of thehighflying governors with
\nmassive youth support. Equally, if Ahmed Makarfi, IbrahimShekarau and
\nother candidates come on board, the battle for the PDP presidentialticket
\nwill take some never-thought-of dimensions. Moreover, the south southand
\nsouth east will have a bloc vote; but there is a massive delegates\u2019
\nvotefrom other regions.<\/p>\n
Atiku has strong war chest but hehas started a very difficult and long
\n\u2018journey\u2019 to 2019. Buhari with his cult-likefollowers, some solid
\nperformance to show against Atiku\u2019s \u2018personal\u2019development, knit with
\nTinubu\u2019s factor- the only individual now in Nigeria thathas some governors
\nwith solid control of the southwest will make Atiku\u2019salready tumultuous
\npursuit all the more unbearable. The Northwest and Northeastwill
\ndefinitely not be an easy spot for Atiku either. Northwest will
\ndefinitelygo for what Buhari goes for, while the Northeast, Atiku\u2019s
\nconstituency does nothave a common course, and Buhari\u2019s sterling
\nperformance against Boko Haram has endearedhim to people of the region.<\/p>\n
One interesting andsurprising thing about Atiku and Buhari is, as Atiku
\ngrows older; his fear of facingstrong candidates at party primaries has
\nincreased, despite his immense warchest and political structures. On the
\nother hand, Buhari\u2019s boldness at facingany candidate at party primaries
\nhas increased.<\/p>\n
As 2019 approaches,people who voted for Buhari in 2015; but are angry with
\nBuhari, do not in anyway see Atiku as an option, while people who did not
\nvote for Buhari in 2015,see Atiku as a sort of way to get some temporary
\nrelief. Thus, Atiku will not cash-infrom protest votes; but Buhari may
\ncash-in from voter apathy. However, many ofBuhari adherents are not happy
\nwith the so-called \u2018jackals\u2019 and the \u2018hyenas\u2019who have seemingly hijacked
\nPMB\u2019s government. Thus the \u2018jackals\u2019 and the\u2018hyenas\u2019 have to tighten their
\nbelt to fight Buhari\u2019s political battle withtheir \u2018faces\u2019 and \u2018pockets\u2019.
\nAs expected, Buhari will soon make someappointments and corrections as
\n2019 approaches, the politics is gettingexciting- a scenario where it
\nwould be Atiku Abubakar against \u00a0Muhammadu Buhari, it will be like a
\nbicycle againsta super tanker- Buhari will crush Atiku at the polls.<\/p>\n
Zayyad I. Muhammad Jimeta,Adamawa State, zaymohd@yahoo.com 08036070980.
\nwww.zayyad.com.ng<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Vice PresidentAtiku Abubakar\u2019s \u2018resignation\u2019 from the APC is a minus to the party; while his returnto the PDP is a plus to the opposition, PDP. Atiku claims his main…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n