2023 Presidential Race: Atiku, Tambuwal At The Frontline Battle

LAGOS – Decision by the opposi­tion party, Peoples Dem­ocratic Party (PDP), to zone its 2023 presiden­tial ticket to the northern bloc of Nigeria is putting the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on the edge, as former Vice Pres­ident Atiku Abubakar and Soko­to State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, are at the frontline for the country’s presidency.

Investigations by Sunday INDEPENDENT revealed that the two politicians who are of northern extraction, are the only presidential as­pirants who have indicated interest in the 2023 presiden­cy on the PDP’s platform.

APC chieftains are wor­ried that with the PDP look­ing in the direction of the North to pick its candidate as politicians from the South are said not to be showing interest in the interim, the ruling party may also con­sider picking its candidate from the North as well, going by the calculations already spanned by tacticians in the party ahead the 2023 contest.

A source in the APC, who expressed worry, described the permutations in the PDP as “thoroughly dangerous traps set to undermine the interstate of the South.

“In our party, the APC, our desire is to pick the presiden­tial for 2023 from the South. But, what we are seeing in the PDP is a thoroughly dan­gerous trap that is likely to undermine the presidential interest of the South in 2023.

“While in the APC, we are already preparing to field our presidential candidate from the south no matter what, the permutations in the PDP will put us on the edge because none of the politicians from the south in the PDP is showing any interest in the race.

“From all indications, PDP leaders from the South have given up; they are all queuing behind either Atiku or Tambuwal.

“By implication, we shall be facing a tough fight in the North with a South/North contest as likely to replay in 2023. For sure, PDP will pick one of the two, while we are looking at the South.

“In the months to come, we will put in place a small committee to look at the pos­sible implications of that scenario to come up with possible mitigation as well because the average voter in the north might likely look beyond party lines to vote. That will be dangerous for us in the APC.

“The only way out for us as a party is to allow the PDP to pick its own candidate and we swiftly make amends to suit the prevailing circum­stances that are likely to come up then,” said the APC stalwart.

Nothing Wrong With My Father Contesting For The Presidency – Atiku’s Son

Adamu Atiku-Abuba­kar, son of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had said in June that his father will contest for the number one office, come 2023. ersonally, I don’t see anything wrong with my father contesting for the presidency. In 2023, my fa­ther will be aspiring to the number one office in the land because he has been an astute, strategic, mas­ter politician for almost four decades,” he had said.

Atiku Free To Contest Presidential Election in 2023, Says Secondus

The PDP also disclosed last month that it would not discriminate against any person that may want to contest presidential elec­tion on its platform in 2023 including former Vice Pres­ident Atiku Abubakar.

Its National Chairman, Uche Secondus, and Chair­man of PDP Governors Fo­rum, Alhaji Aminu Tambu­wal, made these remarks after a two-hour meeting held at Ramat House, Bau­chi, on October 3, 2020.

Apart from Secondus and Tambuwal, PDP Dep­uty National Chairman (North), Senator Nazif Gamawa, and a former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, among others, also attend­ed the meeting.

After the meeting, while responding to a question on whether the party would re-present Abubakar who lost the 2019 presidential election to President Mu­hammadu Buhari, Secon­dus noted that the party’s floor would be open for any aspirant willing to contest for the presidential election in 2023.

Secondus promised to provide level-playing ground for all the party members, describing PDP as very democratic party that is all accommodating.

He said: “There is no room for discrimination. Everyone is qualified, both young, old, governors, non-governors are quali­fied to contest and we have the space for everyone; if you win, you become our candidate. The door is open to everybody.”

Although they did not disclose the reason for the recent visits and consulta­tions around the country, it might not be unconnected with the 2023 politics on how the party can get back to winning ways particular­ly at the presidency having lost out of power for eight years.

Tinubu Destined To Be A King­maker, Not A King – Shetimma

Meanwhile, Alhaji Shet­tima Yerima, President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, has said recent de­velopments in the polity, especially the fall-out of the #EndSARS protests, have shown that the likes of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos and national leader of the ruling APC, are not needed as contestants in the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking in an inter­view with Sunday INDE­PENDENT, Yerima who re­iterated his earlier position that anyone above 70 years shouldn’t contest the pres­idential election in 2023, however, said he would wait for Tinubu to make an official declaration on his presidential ambition before making his position known.

While attesting to the fact that Tinubu had done a lot in raising and mento­ring younger leaders, in­cluding a Vice-President, Governors, Ministers, Sen­ators and others, he said Tinubu may be destined to be a kingmaker and not a king.

His words: “The way the game is; as smart as he (Tinubu) is, and from what we saw from the distance, though some of us are priv­ileged to be around him too, it is clear that he is not needed as it is today.

“People like him are not needed in 2023. So, you cannot continue to force yourself that this must be. Even though, let me not begin to put the cart before the horse because he has not even declared that he is contesting.

“So, for some of us, we have chosen to reserve our comments and wait until he declares. Then we will tell him exactly what we feel about him. But as it is today, there is no need overstretching ourselves; let him declare his presi­dential ambition first.

“I see him as one of those elder statesmen who have made positive impacts in the lives of the younger generation.

He has made a lot of people and today, we can point and say these are things he has done espe­cially to younger ones who were opportune to work under him. He has elevated them politically and they are doing well in different fields.

“We can mention sev­eral governors, senators, ministers and others out of his goodwill. How many Nigerians do we have to­day that can point out what positive things they have done in the lives of their people? So, take it or leave it, he has done his best in raising young­er leaders.

“But sometimes in life again, there are those who make kings but they them­selves cannot be king. Probably it is his destiny. He can make kings, but he cannot be king.

But, there is nothing wrong in that because you can be father to the king.”