Atiku, Obasanjo and Buhari by Wale Fatade

No matter how much they deny it, President Muhammadu Buhari’s camp is jittery with the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). They’ve throw everything but the kitchen sink at him since it became clear that he is Buhari’s main opponent come next year. I stopped counting the press releases, interviews and articles written by the top echelon of APC in trying to demonise Atiku.

By the way, one wonders the propriety of people working for the Buhari government and not the party that he represents, spending their time defending him when they are still on the payroll of government. At least the government is supposed to be for all citizens irrespective of party affiliation and that is why we need to examine our laws properly if there’s a lacuna in guiding against such. Party officials are best suited to do this, leaving government officials to do the duty they were appointed to do originally.

I deliberately decided to put former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s name in the middle of Atiku and Buhari because there’s a subtext to the overdrive the APC had been thrown since Atiku’s emergence. The attempts, sometimes incoherent, and at other times bothering on the ridiculous, in seeking to paint Obasanjo and the religious priests who were present at the Abeokuta rendezvous as the devil in the ongoing battle for Nigerians’ votes in 2019 could only have been successful if all of us are suffering from amnesia. Good enough that at least two of the dramatis personae have spoken up and explained their roles in the drama, even though one would have preferred that we keep religious leaders away from politics. For me as a Christian and especially as a Baptist, the separation of the church and the state is so sacrosanct and the pulpit so sacred that it should not be turned to a political soapbox. But we know our country well that cassocks and imam’s regalia are not different from agbada and babaringa that our politicians prefer.

Most of our religious leaders are all politicians and lest the APC enthusiasts get carried away in their own game, we remember too well a Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka, the Spiritual Director of The Adoration Ministry, Enugu, who was not only a cheerleader for the Buhari campaign in 2014 and 2015 but was also among the earliest callers at Aso Rock when Buhari assumed office. Of course, there were other priests who aligned with former President Goodluck Jonathan that time too. It is in that same light that we must see their comments about Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku, which he later followed up with a more damning indictment of Buhari at Bali, Indonesia while delivering the Babacar Ndiaye’s lecture over the weekend. This column is not enamored of Obasanjo as can be seen in this nearly two year old piece but journalism has taught one that there is a gap between reality and idealism.

I’m sure those trying to discredit Obasanjo now would have preferred him endorsing their candidate and not Atiku. When they went to him nearly four years ago seeking his imprimatur, they forgot that he had no electoral value even when they displayed the pictures of that visit for all to see. While Obasanjo might not win a candidate more votes, he sure can make the candidate lose more votes and that’s why they’re worried that Atiku seems to be having the momentum. It is a poignant reminder of our political sagacity that developments seem to be following the pattern of 2015 presidential election. A party in power totally oblivious of the misery and pain in the land preferring to live in a fantasy island of all-is-well, forgetting to tell citizens why her candidate deserves a second term and preferring to concentrate on how a major opponent is not fit for office. Suddenly 2019 is not so far any longer and the argument of ‘no candidate to compete with Buhari’ has given rise to ‘he is so corrupt’. There is a spring in the citizens’ steps towards elections next year as they remember that an incumbent was voted out of office and it can be done again.

It is important that the gladiators shift their gaze to the economy as 70% of our revenues currently go to debt servicing and we are set to increase our debt by $2.79 billion even as workers are agitating for minimum wage. How do we get out of the quagmire we are economically should occupy our political discourse just as we should refuse the binary nature of presidential contestants, there are others worthy of our attention too. A warning to supporters of both candidates: the presidential election is still four months away and can either be lost or won in that period, sell your candidate as much as possible and leave Nigerians to make their choice. By the way, there are others in the presidential race as well and so Nigerians have many options but many things can change before February next year.