The race for occupancy at Nigeria’s seat of power in Abuja is gradually becoming a coat of many colours, OLUSEGUN OLANREWAJU writes
Thursday, 13th January 2022. No. 24, Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, is as usual, upbeat. As the reporter approaches the gates of the expansive yard, he notices bats, in their droves, banking in the crevices of the huge tree located on the other side of the highbrow street.
He is only trying to nose into the fate of a political machine of a man whose name, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose acronym seems to connect with the BAT phenomenon that seems to be resonating in the banking displays of the bird-animal.
Yes, this is the habitat of the ‘Lion of Bourdillon’, Tinubu, who eats, dreams, lives, and politics right here. A former two-time governor of Lagos State, Tinubu is keying in into his confessed, long-held dream, of becoming Nigeria’s next elected president after incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, who has confirmed he would be returning to his farm in Daura, Katsina State, after completing his second term in office next year.
On Monday, Tinubu stormed Abuja to declare his intention to run for the 2023 presidency, actually trailing Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, in the race for an open declaration of intention to run. Others have since joined the fray into the Nigerian checkered history of majorly tripodal politicking, henpecked on ethno-religious and other considerations, of the list of those gunning for President Buhari’s job.
The first liners of those in the race now, apart from the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Tinubu, include sitting Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (although he has not publicly declared); Ebonyi State governor, David Umahi; his Kogi counterpart, Bello, noted publisher, Dele Momodu, greenhorn Prof. Peter Umeadi; ex-deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, and former Abia State governor and Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu.
Tinubu meets Buhari
Touted to be among the frontrunners to succeed Buhari, after months of speculation, the APC leader held a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja during which he formally bore his mind to contest. In his interview with State House reporters, Tinubu said it had been his age-long ambition “to lead the country one day”.
“I have informed the president of my ambition, but I have not informed Nigerians yet, I am still consulting. And I have no problem consulting. And I’ve not set a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people I will consult. “You will soon hear. All you want to hear is the categorical declaration. You’ve gotten that truth from me that I have informed Mr President of my ambition, and you don’t expect more answers than that,” he said.
Tinubu also confirmed his position on the president’s stance on his desire to run. His media aide, Tunde Rahman, said of the president’s desire not to openly support any of the running candidates, “That’s our business. He (Buhari) is a democrat. He didn’t ask me (Tinubu) to stop. He didn’t ask me not to attempt and pursue my ambition, it is a lifelong ambition. So, why do I expect him to say more than that? You are running a democratic dispensation, and you must adopt the principles and the values, and the virtues of democracy. That’s it.”
He added: “I have the confidence, the vision, the capacity to rule, vowing not to succumb to pressures on him to sit back and play the role of a kingmaker. “About the cap of the kingmaker. I’ve never seen the cap of a kingmaker before. That is the truth. And I’ve never seen where it is written in the rule book anywhere in any country that a kingmaker cannot be a king unless you commit murder.
I want to pursue my ambition without the title of a kingmaker.” The former Lagos governor is supported in his presidential quest by the Lagos State chapter of the APC, where observers note that he has a firm grip.
But the mainstream Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, that was instrumental to Tinubu’s emergence in Lagos for a two-time run for governorship in the state from exile in 1999, have distanced themselves from his bid
Publicity Secretary of Lagos APC, Seye Oladejo, said Tinubu’s experience and capacity Tinubu would take the country to ‘the next level’. But, out there on the streets, it appears the coast will not be easy for the Asiwaju, who is stridently contesting with one-of-his-brought-ups, Vice President Osinbajo, from the South-West home front.
Oladejo said: “The long-awaited declaration has finally been made. As far as we are concerned, it was made at the appropriate time, and Asiwaju Tinubu consulting with President Buhari to make his ambition known to him is a step in the right direction.” “As a democrat, Asiwaju is not averse to other people’s aspirations within the rules and regulations.”
Mainstream Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze, has also opposed Tinubu’s declaration, alleging injustice to the Tinubu bid. Surveys on Tinubu’s residence by ThisNigeria suggest that an ethnic-rooted campaign could be on. The reporter noticed a giant banner draped at the entrance of his residence, proudly announcing, “Yoruba Lokan” (It’s Yoruba turn), “Omoluabi Ni Wa”, “We Are Gentlemen”, mounted by groups such as “Isokan Yoruba to Support Asiwaju” (Yoruba United Front to Support the Leader).
National President of the group, Aremo Lateef Adekunle Adegoroye drove the message. A voice believed to be that of a supporter of the group told the reporter on phone on Friday that they are supportive of Tinubu’s quest “minus lethargy”. According to him, the chances of their leader becoming the president “are very good”.
However, the banners could have been meant to be a yuletide message of solidarity. A security man at the gate told ThisNigeria correspondent: “they only came here to mount the drapers and went away. You can’t meet any of them here.”
Trouble for a big fish?
Apart from the Osinbajo challenge, Tinubu seems to be having some troubles on the South West page. On inquiry over the weekend, some supporters lauded the ‘grandmaster’, with some affirming a ‘100 per cent’ chance of winning for him, however, with some reservations.
Two members of the mainstream Mandate Group spoke with the correspondent at the Ikorodu Local Government headquarters, one of the five main divisions in Lagos State. Ayoola Anjorin and Orefoye Oluwakemi Zacchaeus, hinged their optimism of the Asiwaju’s success on his “various achievements in the state when he was the governor”.
“Tinubu is a good candidate, they said,’’ noting that “God gave him the wisdom and knowledge of politics.”
On Osinbajo’s threat, they chorused: “It is not a sin for Osinbajo to run. But he should try to reason with common sense that this is my Oga (master), je kin gba fun (let him have his way”. They also expressed the opinion that it is not wrong for candidates from other zones in the country to run.
On the allegations that Tinubu’s ambition is predicated on an alleged pact with president Buhari for a rub-my-back-I-rub-yours for the presidency as a done deal, however, they said, “as party members, we are not aware of that. But whether that is between them, we don’t know.” Meanwhile, a former member of the House of Representatives and Director-General of the Tinubu Support Group Management Council, Mr. Abdulmuminu Jibrin, has said Tinubu was in the presidential race “to compete with others”.
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National Publicity Secretary of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Debo Ologunagba, on his part, advised Tinubu “to first fix the APC as a political party before plotting to achieve his lifelong dream of being the president.” “Tinubu should bear in mind that the APC had promised a change to Nigerians, but upon winning the elections, it changed its promise. This should be a source of worry to him.
Osinbajo’s factor
A group campaigning for Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, the Progressive Project (TPP), said Tinubu’s declaration would not in any way affect its plans to push for their principal’s declaration and his subsequent emergence as APC’s presidential standard-bearer.
A spokesperson for the group, Olajide Michael, said Tinubu’s declaration neither took them by surprise nor would it make them lose focus. He added that although they expect more contestants in a few months, “Osinbajo would always come out first in every contest.”
David Umahi
Barely 24 hours after Tinubu’s declaration to run, Ebonyi State governor, David Umahi, also surfaced at the State House on Tuesday to announce his interest to run for the presidency. After a closed-door meeting with the president, Umahi confirmed to reporters that he discussed the issue with Buhari, whom he said, asked him to “go and seek the support of the people.”
On November 30, 2021, Umahi had said he was not defecting to the ruling party to contest for the presidency in 2023, claiming that his decision was based on perceived injustice in the PDP.
“I told Mr President that without prejudice to whatever will be the decision of the party, which we shall abide by if the party throws the ticket open or zoned to Southern part of Nigeria, that I believe that with what I have put in place in the past six years plus, that I will “So, I told him, and of course, he believes that whoever wants to run for President of this country must have to consult widely; go to all the leaders and that we must do everything to remove ethnicity and religion in our politics so that this country can grow.”
Umahi said if, given the opportunity, his Presidency would replicate his efforts in Ebonyi State at the national level, saying that he has a lot to show in running governance as a business. The Ebonyi governor has a good ‘traducer’ in the human rights group, HURIWA, who has dared him to “perish your dream to become Nigeria’s President”.
But Umahi has stuck to his guns, saying he is “undeterred by Tinubu’s presence because the contest is not about might.” “The Bible that I swore with, a section of it in 1 Samuel, says that by strength shall no man prevail, and power might belong to God. He chooses whomever he will and he will do that in 2023. I am not in a contest with anybody. I am in a contest with myself,” he said.
Asked if he had commenced consultations with various interests to support his aspiration, especially with Southeast stakeholders such as the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Umahi said his first step was reaching out to the president. On dialoguing with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the governor said the group “ought not to be getting involved in party politics”.
Orji Kalu
Senate chief whip, Orji Kalu, has announced what is considered a half-hearted attempt to run. At once he promised a fire-for-fire campaign against Tinubu but later balked that he would only contest the presidency, “if it is zoned to the South-East”. “I’m ready to challenge Tinubu for APC presidential ticket,” he was quoted to have said, adding that the ‘ambition’ for Nigeria to have a President of Igbo extraction in 2023 “is not affected by Tinubu’s presidential ambition.”
Like many of his kinsmen, the former governor of Abia State regretted that no Igbo man had been democratically elected as Nigeria’s president since independence. Kalu also said: “I do not see Tinubu’s aspiration having any effect on a President of Nigeria coming from Igbo area. It has no effect because we are talking based on what Nigeria should be, based on what people should believe.
“I do not see Tinubu’s aspiration having any effect on the President of Nigeria coming from the Igbo area. Because we are talking based on what Nigeria should be. We are talking based on what people should believe. Obasanjo has been President for eight years. Osinbajo is doing eight years as Vice President. And no Igbo man since independence has been a democratically elected President. So it is always good to think of what is reasonable and what will be more sellable. “I’m the most prepared Presidential candidate in Nigeria. I’m capable healthwise, I’m capable as a person, I’m capable in my pocket. I’m capable of facing anybody. But the party is supreme. I only wait for APC as a party.
“For me, contesting for President is not the issue. The issue is who is going to lead the country into an economic miracle, into a turnaround. I’m not against Tinubu. If it’s zoned to his area and the party said he should go. Well, the party is supreme. I’m only waiting for the party.” Kalu has now denied ‘fighting’ Tinubu. “Obasanjo had been president for eight years. Osinbajo is about to conclude eight years as Vice President. Yet, no Igbo man since independence has been democratically elected as President. “So, it’s always good to think of what is reasonable and what is more sellable. That thing is almost dead on arrival because it is not going to work,” Kalu said.
Asked if he has what it takes to win the APC presidential ticket ahead of Tinubu, he said “I’m the most prepared presidential candidate in Nigeria. “I’m capable healthwise and as a person, and also capable of facing anybody. But the party is supreme. I’m only waiting for the APC.”
Last weekend, Kalu was reported to have made another bend, giving some reasons why he “has not announced his bid to run”. Meanwhile, support for the maverick ex-Abia governor has not gone without drama. In December 2021, some indigenes announced that they had dragged Kalu to court in faraway Bauchi State over an alleged agreement with him to run for the presidency. In the suit, the plaintiffs, Aliyu Ladan and Lawan Abdullahi averred that
“We had an agreement with Kalu to contest under APC in 2023, but he was being reluctant to contest. We know Kalu’s capacity; that is why we want him to be Nigeria’s president. Only a strategic thinker like the Abia State former governor could rescue the country from its current perilous state.”
Yahaya Bello
He was, perhaps, the first, to get set for public presidential race declaration. The emergence of Yahaya Bello as the Governor of Kogi State marked a new beginning in the Confluence state, and five years down the line, the people’s governor has proved to be a round peg in a round hole. Bello, the director of Kogi Youth Arise Forum, a group that motivated the campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari in Kogi State, announced his desire to run early in December last year.
Declaring the announcement, his Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, said the governor was only yielding to pressures to contest. “Very many people have asked the governor to run. So, we know the deafening calls will bring about a defining moment of our nation,” he said. According to the commissioner, the governor, who is flying on the North-West ticket, tweeted: “He (Bello) wants a great Nigeria. He has done it in Kogi State. So, we know the deafening calls will bring about a defining moment for our nation. We are thinking of Nigeria.” Supporters expect change from the Kogi governor, who they described as “the youngest democratically elected governor in Nigeria, who assumed his first office at age 40.”
Moghalu the humorous
Another presidential contestant, Kingsley Moghalu, on Wednesday, darted his ambition with a sarcastic note of humour, saying he “forgot to inform” President Buhari, of his intention to run for President in the 2023 general elections. “I forgot to inform President @Mbuhari that I am running for President. But I informed Nigerians, of whom he is one, so no wahala (problem)!” he tweeted.
Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the nation’s apex bank, CBN, was the presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in 2019, but he lost the election to Buhari. He joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2021 and declared his intention to run for the exalted office in the race again in 2023. Moghalu’s tweet followed the declaration by All Progressives Congress National Leader, Bola Tinubu; and Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi; that they would be running for President in 2023.
2023: Tinubu, Osinbajo set for showdown as VP’s group intensifies campaign
The Umeadi challenge
Another greenhorn in the 2023 presidential race is Philip Umeadi, a professor, and former Enugu State Chief Justice. Three groups were said to have endorsed his candidature.
Umeadi, in a chat with newsmen at his Nri country-home in Anaocha local government council of the state, expressed the belief that the emergence of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction “willfully unite and integrate various sections of the country.”
He also disclosed that his aspiration to become the presidential flagbearer was endorsed by Presidents-General of no fewer than 2,000 communities from the five core Igbo-speaking states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, in addition to those of Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River state, as well as leadership of the Forum for 2023 Igbo President. According to him, there is nothing wrong with an Igbo man becoming the President of Nigeria.
He stressed that such actualisation is in the spirit of equity, justice, and fairness. “The Igbo returned from Biafra to Nigeria. Since that return, there ought to be a wholesome integration and a new beginning for the Igbo on one hand and the Igbo with their fellow compatriots in Nigeria on the other hand, which did not happen,” Umeadi stated.
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The presidential race has just flagged off. It remains to be been the list of the new entrance into the pool.
