By Gideon Obhakhan
The Nigerian political space has been inundated with several words being introduced into its diction. Some of them have been specially crafted to represent followers of the three main contenders for the exalted office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ‘BATified’ are strong supporters of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The ‘ATIKUlated’ focus on projecting the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), while the third group is referred to as the “OBIdient” group.

The ‘OBIdients’ claim to represent a movement determined to change the current order by voting for Labour Party’s (LP) Peter Obi.

Although this piece focuses on the three candidates mentioned above, it is worth noting that there are 15 other presidential candidates from various political parties targeting the number one seat. My focus on the above three does not take away their genuine intentions toward a better Nigeria.

I decided to focus on these three groups because of space limitations, and I do hope the “G15” can forgive me for that.

I want to focus on the headline campaign buzzes of the three main candidates and their followers’ projects as their strong points that should sway votes towards their respective parties.

For Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State and candidate of the Labour Party, the major selling point is his financial prudence. His followers talk about how he left N75bn in Anambra State’s coffers when he handed it over to his successor.

The second one is that he doesn’t give “shishi”, which invariable means that he is financially disciplined. I hear he used to go to filling stations to get fuel for himself to ensure that his State’s money is spent judiciously. They also talk about the need for mandatory change. In other words, it should be anything, but the current establishment.

To react briefly to one of the key selling points that Peter Obi left N75bn for his successor, I’d like to ask a few questions: was it that at the time he was leaving office, there were no roads to be built? No hospitals that required state-of-the-art medical equipment?

No public schools needed teachers or some face-lift in terms of key infrastructure.

Where are all the major security challenges dealt with? Each time I reflect on this point, I’m almost tempted to believe the rumours circulating on social media, that he may have kept these monies in banks where he had personal interests, so he could make personal gains from the proceeds.

Unfortunately, I cannot categorically say that because I have not personally done my investigation to ascertain those claims.

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The second point is more or less an extension of the first, as it tries to emphasize how disciplined Peter Obi is when it comes to spending public funds. Although when I hear of him going to the filling station to buy fuel himself to save money, I cringe.

The reason is I try to imagine how much time he will dedicate to purchasing fuel versus time for the serious business of governance if elected Nigeria’s President. To the third point of changing the current establishment irrespective of who replaces the current helmsman, my questions are simple; “Must you chop off your nose to spite your face?” “Must you simply take a leap in the dark with glaring risks of landing inside a deep, black hole?” “Must you ignore the sense of reason for emotional satisfaction?” I have decided not to dwell on these questions because for a discerning mind, the answers are as obvious as the questions themselves.

To the next candidate, His Excellency the former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Each time I think about the Atiku candidacy with the myriad of issues surrounding him, starting from the OBJ I-dey-laugh era, to the Wike factor, the self-acclaimed unifier which he has openly betrayed, and several other issues, I also cannot stop laughing like OBJ.

I genuinely feel some pity for the ‘ATIKUlated’ followers. I have struggled within this period to think about what Atiku intends to tell people after eight years of being a former Vice President, with no landmark achievement to show for it. He must have personally searched his archives, found nothing, and then decided to settle for ‘unifier’ as the buzzword for his campaign.

The first opportunity he had to demonstrate his skills as a self-acclaimed unifier, was bungled. This was the case of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State who felt outsmarted during the PDP presidential primaries.

Wike’s only request was that the PDP leadership should live up to their promises of fairness and equity between the North and South. What did he get? Atiku had a second chance to show his unifying skills when he addressed some Northern leaders in Kaduna. Instead of demonstrating his ability to bring everybody together, he decided to play the ethnic card. The ‘unifier’ said the North needs only a northerner to solve their problem, not a Yoruba or an Igbo man.

For BATified, the central selling point is the Lagos story. The consistent transformation that has continued to happen in Lagos since Asiwaju Tinubu developed and started the execution of the master plan geared towards transforming the state from the slum it had become, to a mega city.

They talk about how Tinubu developed the strategy to raise the meagre internally generated revenue from where it was in 1999 to become the fifth largest economy in Africa.

The massive infrastructural development, a society devoid of major security issues, a fantastic educational system, his ability to identify intellectuals and engage them to deliver significant value, etc.

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The anti-Tinubu elements who are bent on selling their candidates at all costs, conveniently avoid the Lagos discourse and focus on meaningless trivia. They come up with issues that bother his date of birth and medical condition, without providing either his birth certificate or his medical records to justify their claims.

They talk about the current APC administration and focus on the few shortcomings, especially security issues which they claim have not been properly dealt with by the current APC administration. They intentionally forget the 16 years of rot that the current administration inherited. They decide not to give APC credit for the infrastructural development of the current administration, the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan rail line, the Warri-Itakpe rail line, the thousands of direct and indirect jobs created from the infrastructure development initiatives, the anchor borrowers’ programme and its positive impact on Nigerians, etc.

I believe that the person Nigeria needs at this time is someone who has proven, excellent track records, and has the resilience, capacity, and courage to deal with the issues at hand.

During the presentation of his action plan titled “Renewed Hope 2023”, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu reminded Nigerians of his excellent track record and made a pledge to do more when elected in 2023. I strongly believe, judging by his previous performance records and his well-considered Renewed Hope Action Plan, Tinubu is the best man for the job.

Gideon Obhakhan, a former Edo State Commissioner for Education, is the Secretary, Public Affairs at Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council