*Back Kwankwaso, Makinde as running mates
Supporters of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar are at daggers drawn with those of his former running-mate in 2019, Mr. Peter Obi, over who becomes the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for next year’s election.
While supporters of Obi, who call themselves Obidients seem to have boxed former Kano governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso into accepting to be his running mate, Atiku’s supporters appear to prefer Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, as his running mate.
Obi ran as Atiku’s running mate in 2019, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and both men went their separate ways in 2023 with Obi running as the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate after Atiku had clinched the PDP ticket.
Supporters of the former Vice President still consider Obi’s decision to be on the ballot in 2023 as one move that tilted the scales in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In the election, Tinubu polled a total of 8,794,726 votes as against Atiku’s 6,984,520 votes. Obi trailed Atiku with 6,101,533 votes.
Supporters of the former Vice President believe that, had Obi not contested, the over six million votes he polled would have shot Atiku’s votes to over 13 million votes to defeat Tinubu and make him President.
In a recent interview with Arise TV, Atiku stated this was going to be his last shot at the Presidency. He added that the ADC presidential candidate would emerge either by consensus or by direct primaries. On his part, Obi has warned that he would not be part of any exercise that will fall short of transparency.
Supporters of the forner vice president accuse Obi of wanting to be in the 2027 race, “not to win, but to play the spoiler.”
Said one Atiku supporter, “Obi knows that his best chance of becoming the president is to work with Atiku. By 2031, Wazirin would have, insha Allahu, been 84. He would, like Nelson Mandela, step aside for Obi.
“Sadly, Obidients don’t understand this larger picture. They are too fixated on their fancies. They’d rather Obi contested the primary election and, of course, lose to Atiku. They would then cite that as an excuse to, as usual, work for Tinubu,” he declared.
Those in the Obi camp, however, view supporters of the forner vice president as those who want to ruin the coalition against Tinubu.
According to an ADC chieftain from Edo State: “To begin with, had Atiku respected the PDP zoning in 2023, Obi wouldn’t have pulled out of the party, and we wouldn’t be where we are today.
“Look at the PDP that made Atiku governor and Vice President. At a time, the PDP had about 26 governors. Today, the party has none, no thanks to Atiku’s inordinate ambition.
“He has brought the same ambition to the coalition. He very knows that, not only does zoning not favour him, he is going to be 80 in November, and, therefore, has very little to offer.
“At this stage, he ought to be the one galvanizing the coalition. Building it as an elder statesman. No. He wants to be president at all costs.
“If they try any nonsense at the presidential convention, it will be ‘to your tents O Israel!’”
He added that, the fact that Obi polled nearly as many votes as Atiku in his first outing, showed that he is a very popular politician who deserves to fly the ADC flag.
“How many votes did Atiku, who has been contesting for the presidency of Nigeria since 1993 have, compared to Obi who debuted in 2023? Obi has the maturity, age, experience, calmness, and acceptance to be President.
“Atiku talks about experience. Excuse me! Aside being a Vice President, a Villa spare tyre that was never used, what other experience is he talking about? Even in business, he cannot be compared to Obi who has several successful business concerns,” he declared.
