2023: G5, Atiku And The Point Of No Return

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LEON USIGBE writes that there can be very little movement left in the broken relationship between Atiku Abubakar and the G5 and identifies the consequences of the actions of the various personae.

Those working for Atiku Abubakar in the media circuit often project the readiness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate to go into next year’s election without the G5 governors. Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) have been relentless in their determination not to have anything to do with the standard-bearer of their party until its national chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, is eased out of office and his place taken by a politician of southern extraction.  Atiku’s handlers say he has done all that is humanly possible to appease the Wike-led group and that the demand for Ayu’s head is totally beyond his powers.

All members of the G5 but Makinde are in their final terms as governors. The Oyo State governor needs a second term while the others are also intent on retaining the political control of both their states and the PDP structures therein. This means that they must deal with the dilemma of campaigning for themselves and the PDP candidates across the states’ elections on the one hand and not canvass for support for the presidential candidate of the party on the other. On this score, observers suggest that the governors face the challenge of being able to convince their people to approach the poll with a discriminatory attitude, that is, to vote for PDP in the governorship and parliamentary elections and then choose a presidential candidate other than PDP’s Atiku in the same poll. Either way, both camps live in precarious times.

The 2023 presidential election is not expected to be a walk in the park for the major political parties and even worse for the PDP with the strengthening of the Labour Party (LP) by the Peter Obi factor. The presidential candidate of the LP appeals to the same political base as the PDP and is therefore expected to draw much needed votes away from Atiku with the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, in pole position to reap from the fallout. “I will start without colouring it. Nigerians must know that any vote for Peter Obi is a vote for APC because Peter Obi cannot make it. So, anybody that is voting for Labour Party is actually voting for Tinubu,” Senator Dino Melaye, spokesperson of the Atiku campaign, opined in an interview, adding: “Anybody that is campaigning for Peter Obi is actually praying and working for Tinubu to become the President of the Republic of Nigeria because if you are voting for Peter, you are depleting the votes of PDP because Peter cannot make it.”

 

Despite that, Melaye believes that even without the votes that will go to Obi, the former vice-president, is poised to win the election pointing to the problem the ruling party has perceptively caused the nation, “How do we pray that Tinubu should come and continue with insecurity; Tinubu should come and continue with kidnapping; Tinubu should come and continue with banditry; Tinubu should come and continue with rise in the price of goods and commodities in this country; Tinubu should come and continue with poverty, hunger and starvation; Tinubu should come and continue with bad roads, decaying infrastructure? If APC comes back, what we are saying is that we want it to come and reinforce failure. So, nobody will pray for APC, nobody’s even going to vote for APC. And the satanic manifestation of Muslim-Muslim ticket is there for them to battle,” Melaye affirmed.

 

Notwithstanding the façade, PDP’s confidence in victory is shaken by the G5, who have continued to deprecate and denigrate the presidential ticket for its perceived lack of will to do the right thing. Rather than fizzle out as Atiku would have liked, it is going a notch higher in a way that signals that a point of no return has already been attained. This was evident to political watchers in the G5 meeting to commission projects and flag-off the governorship and parliamentary campaign for the PDP in Makurdi, Benue State, in the last few days.  The state governor, Ortom, who had been at the forefront of those trying to end the Wike/Atiku rift, let his frustration boil over at the absence of any meaningful peace move to restore order to the main opposition party.  “To hell with Atiku and anyone supporting him; they should go and tell him,” he bellowed, with all members of the group and other guests in rapt attention.

 

From his previous utterances, it would have been safe to say that the motivation for that outburst lay in the brick wall his efforts as a bridge builder in the PDP have apparently met. But the governor himself demonstrated that the issue with Atiku is much more deeply ingrained than what has played out in recent PDP power play. Hear him: “You want me to be slave for a Fulani. It’s better I die. Anybody supporting Atiku is an enemy of Benue. My people are being killed and you want me to be quiet. My tenure ends in May and you can do whatever you want if you think you have the powers. I have written my will. When I gave it to my wife, she cried all night. If I die at 62, many of my mates have gone long time ago. If I die today, I’m a fulfilled person but let it be recorded that I died resisting the invasion and killing of my people. I will never support a Fulani man to become president. If there is another person who is ready to work with me and ensure the security of my people, I will work with him.”

For observers, the PDP has now come to that part where it is impossible to have any significant change in attitudes, not least, the disposition of the G5. Therefore, just as his sympathisers are saying, Atiku must prepare himself to head into the election conscious of the consequences of the actions of the five state chief executives.

Tribune