Daniel Elombah

It all started with secret visit to Ota Farm, at the home of former President Olusegun Obasanjo a visit which the Chairman of the PPA Board of Trustees and former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu appropriately labelled “secret visits to political god-fathers”.

Kalu was so miffed at the visit that he alleged that the former vice president was responsible for the collapse of his airline and other businesses.

What followed was a political brickbat between Atiku Abubakar and Orji Uzor Kalu. Atiku called the former Abia governor a “liar and a liability” and Kalu “advised Atiku and his spin doctors to face his self-inflicted problems and leave Kalu out of it”

Obviously, the political rapprochement between the past Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his erstwhile Deputy, Mr. Abubakar Atiku also ruffled existing political alliances, a rapprochement that was strengthened on Saturday, 24TH January, 2009 in Katsina, when the duo appeared together at the wedding ceremony of the President's daughter.

What followed was a flurry of activities across the North, between political power brokers anxious to decipher the political dynamics at play, and then of course the positioning that would take place prior to 2010.

The reaction of the President, Mr. Umaru Yar'Adua to the Obasanjo-Atiku rapprochement, according to a well placed Presidency insider, was to put a call across, which he rarely does, to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, reminding him of the need to help strengthen his present Administration, which according to the President, the immediate past President was instrumental to its creation.

Obasanjo strongly assured Yar’Adua of his assistance. "The call was expected, when it came, our leader made the best of it. I hope those small boys running around the President have now realised who is a better politician". The Yar'Adua political camp then decided not to react negatively to the Atiku and Obasanjo development, but to find ways of using it to the benefit of the Administration.

Meanwhile other camps got anxious that the emerging Obasanjo-Atiku group will deprive them of the influence they have been exacting on Mr. President. A flurry of political meetings followed. Prominent Northern leaders, including some governors and elected officials, began a series of nocturnal meetings among those that would not like Yar’Adua to go for a second term although they maintain that they have nothing personal against the President.

Stories started circulating that Yar’Adua would not go for a second term and that Atiku would return to the PDP. Because of his suspected frail health, there had been insinuations that the President might not be interested in a second term, a development which was suspected to have given Abubakar the impetus to seek a return to PDP.

Yar’Adua had to step in, to strongly affirm that he is indeed running for a second term. The Deputy National Chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Mohammed Bello, declared that Yar'Adua would seek a second term in  office because the Seven Point Agenda was designed to be implemented in eight years.

PDP senators waded in and warned that the nation was adrift. They said President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua’s performance was uninspiring and therefore would oppose his second term aspirations.  According to the senators, the President propels the nation to directions that could hurt PDP's chances in future electoral contests.

Though I strongly believe that the meeting that produced this judgement on the President had a different agenda; to deliberate on enhancing senators' relevance in their states, where they claim governors were shutting their political space.

But then many had thought that Yar'Adua would not contemplate seeking re-election because of his health challenges, but the indications are to the contrary and efforts are still on to persuade Yar'Adua not to seek another term in office.

Meanwhile many of the AC party leaders warned Abubakar after his visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on January 19 of this new-found political romance with the PDP. The leadership of the AC had been particularly irked by the fact that Abubakar had been entering into negotiations with various political groups in the country without carrying leaders of the AC along.

Some governors elected on the platform of the PDP even avoided meetings with Abubakar over his bid to hold talks with them ostensibly in preparation for his return. The decision of the governors, according to sources, was informed by recent indication that Yar‘Adua would contest in 2011.

Then the bombshell; the former vice-president criticised the electoral reform process of President Umaru Yar ‘Adua‘s administration. Abubakar thundered that the PDP-led government lacked the capacity to give Nigeria any meaningful electoral reform. He castigated President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the PDP and their inability to reform the electoral process.

Reacting to the statements, PDP‘s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, said Abubakar’s comment were borne out of selfish interests, asking whether it was AC that was capable of reforming the country‘s electoral process. The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) further slammed Atiku, describing him as a “hopeless, drowning and unreliable politician; an unusual hard knock on one of its founding fathers.

Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali said Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s overtly selfish ambition has left a hopeless politician, susceptible to all forms of miscalculations and misjudgements.

It is an irony that the former Vice President has suddenly woken up to the realisation that the same system that elevated him to the nation’s number two position does not have a system that can bring brilliant people to leadership. Atiku “deliberately and selfishly slumbered away while he enjoyed the same system, the same man who sang Hosanna yesterday is today singing crucify him, crucify him, at top of his voice.”

Since Abubakar visited Obasanjo, there had been reported moves by some interests within the PDP to frustrate perceived attempts by the former vice-president to return to the PDP.

His attack on the Federal Government on electoral reforms is clearly opportunistic. He has suddenly come to the realisation that the PDP cannot simply allow him to come back and assume the crown. As the Vice President of Nigeria for good eight years, he cannot today be credited with even a single suggestion he made on how to reform the electoral system.

If the PDP cannot bequeath a good electoral system as Atiku said, is it the AC with its ‘barrage of demi-gods and cult personalities’ that will do so? Is it the AC that is bereft of internal democracy?

 Where indeed stands Atiku? Is he in the government or the opposition? Is he in the PDP, the AC, or the ‘grand alliance’? Is inconsistency the mettle of opposition politics? Is this an admission that the AC has slipped off Atiku’s hands?

I am not surprised that Atiku has smelt the coffee, neither am I disappointed that “Atiku now has opened his eyes in the so-called nebulous mega party having lost grip of the AC with his self serving antics.”

Nigerians have come to know Alhaji Atiku Abubakar more than he thinks.  “For all his pretences, he is definitely not one of the champions of democracy.”  

Atiku’s “recent desperation to repair a battered image and bounce back to reckoning has fallen flat in his face, hence his latest remarks which are symptomatic of a drowning man latching unto every available straw for survival.”

Nigerians should beware of those who while in position of authority had the opportunity to reposition Nigeria and its electoral system, abandoned such a noble cause while saddling themselves with selfish political pursuits. Certainly, Atiku Abubakar is not one of those Nigerians should trust.

As things now stand, the former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, may even lose his position as the presidential candidate of the Action Congress in the 2011 election. His romance with the Peoples Democratic Party and his subsequent humiliation by the leadership of the PDP might have strengthened the argument of AC chieftains who had canvassed for his expulsion from the party. Monday‘s outburst by the PDP‘s spokesman had vindicated those who warned Abubakar against his romance with the PDP.

His visit to Obasanjo had caused many to lose confidence in him. And now that PDP seems to have rejected him, this will adversely affect his position within the party. The former vice-president has shown he is not a suitable for the party‘s presidential ticket come 2011.

What is happening is a vindication of the fears that those that appeared to be convincing him to come back to the PDP knew what they were doing. Now that he appeared to have shown enough interest in returning and everybody can see, they have decided to disgrace him.

Obasanjo has proved once again that you underrate his political acumen at your own peril. He obviously flirted with Atiku Abubakar so as to increase his bargaining power with Yar’Adua when the chips are down. That Atiku fall for Obasanjo’s antics for the second (or third?) time calls into question the political sagacity of a purported ‘strategic politician that received his tutelage under Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, the master tactician’.

afamefuna@elombah.com

www.elombah.com

Robot  # 1 | 08.04.2009 18:18

Daniel Elombah It all started with secret visit to Ota Farm, at the home of former President Olusegun Obasanjo a visit which the Chairman of the PPA Board of Trustees and former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu appropriately labelled “secret visits to political god-fathers”. Kalu was so miffed at the visit that he alleged that the former vice president was responsible for the collapse of his airline and other businesses. What followed was a political brickbat between Atiku Abubakar and Orji Uzor Kalu. Atiku called the former Abia governor a “liar and a liability”and Kalu “advised Atiku and his spin doctors to face his self-inflicted problems and leave Kalu out of it” Obviously, the political rapprochement between the past Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his erstwhile Deputy, Mr. Abubakar Atiku also ruffled existing political alliances, a rapprochement that was strengthened on Saturday, 24TH January, 200...Read the full article.

Dapxin  # 2 | 08.04.2009 19:20

Obasanjo has proved once again that you underrate his thug-gery acumen at your own peril. Fixed.

Harmonious  # 3 | 09.04.2009 00:20

=Dapxin;344449>Obasanjo has proved once again that you underrate his thug-gery acumen at your own peril. Fixed. Here we go again. What has thuggery got to do with it? The author is quite right! Obasanjo has shown time and again that he is able to conceal his emotions and stoop to conquer. Atiku ought not to have been so naive. Obj did the same thing to IBB a man who claimed to be the master of Machiavellian plotting, waiting for him (even encouraging him) to publicly pick the PDP presidential form before moving against him. He did same to Okadigbo, even attending his house warming party and dancing with his wife all the while he knew within him that Okadigbo would not move into the house (he was impeached the next month). That Atiku fell for this trick the second time shows he is desperate to be president.

K_Station  # 4 | 09.04.2009 01:31

Daniel, I'm a little curious that you did not reference any of the Nigerian newspapers from which you apparently got a lot of the information in your article, possibly including outright lines and paragraphs. I know a lot of authors & writers meant no wrong but completely overlooking citations and references gives the wrong impression that the article consist entirely of your original thoughts. Citing appropriate references is an important part of the writing culture that we all should continue to strive for. Cheers.

i-go-better  # 5 | 09.04.2009 02:40

I do not know anyone more logically politically foolish than this Atiku of a man. That visit to Ota Zoo chimp must be rated as the worst political decision taken by even an amateur politician! God has a way of turning some of Obj's self-centred evil machinations into good dividend for the Nation. Stopping Atiku from being the president of Nigeria is certainly one of those scenarios. However, characteristically, he created a reversible reaction to cancel that "good" by installing Yara-do-nothing.

edoji  # 6 | 09.04.2009 04:21

=K_Station;344495>Daniel, I'm a little curious that you did not reference any of the Nigerian newspapers from which you apparently got a lot of the information in your article, possibly including outright lines and paragraphs. I know a lot of authors & writers meant no wrong but completely overlooking citations and references gives the wrong impression that the article consist entirely of your original thoughts. Citing appropriate references is an important part of the writing culture that we all should continue to strive for. Cheers. The essence of putting text links at appropriate places is to show the source of the information. The author inserted text links showing where he got his cited information.

saemoenl  # 7 | 09.04.2009 05:40

He has shown that he is incapable of forming his own opposition party (even family). He messed himself up when he visited his enemy in the Ota farm. He also proven that he is incapable when he started arguing Orji Kalu as Kalu challenged that he is the second man from 1999 to 2007, He cannot win his local ward election in his state. Here in Europe, where they have opposition working, they start to challenge the party on power, by holding seminars, Tv adverts, monthly meeting in state and constituency levels, fervently attacking the day to day affairs and laws put together by the ruling party in order to show the weaknesses of the ruling elites, What stops Atiku not to embark on those aspects as a way of forming his own political party and challenge the ruling party. All cannot be in the same ruling party to contest for an election in order to show that you can transform the Nigerian people with your manifestos. If he (Atiku) is serious to become the president of this country, which I don’t think as he messed up his political career. He has to start planning for that not when the election is around the corner that they will start campaigning for the election, his body language has shown us his direction as I will be the last to give him my vote as he is not a trustworthy person to rule the country. His eight years manifested nothing in the lives of Nigerians left along to give him a mandate…where?

Tunde meee  # 8 | 09.04.2009 06:20

"His visit to Obasanjo had caused many to lose confidence in him. And now that PDP seems to have rejected him, this will adversely affect his position within the party. The former vice-president has shown he is not a suitable for the party‘s presidential ticket come 2011". He must be awarded the nobel prize for stupidity if he never envisaged these from the onset.

UncleTisha  # 9 | 09.04.2009 06:20

The reaction of the President, Mr. Umaru Yar'Adua to the Obasanjo-Atiku rapprochement, according to a well placed Presidency insider, was to put a call across, which he rarely does, to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, reminding him of the need to help strengthen his present Administration, which according to the President, the immediate past President was instrumental to its creation. Obasanjo strongly assured Yar’Adua of his assistance. "The call was expected, when it came, our leader made the best of it. I hope those small boys running around the President have now realised who is a better politician". The Yar'Adua political camp then decided not to react negatively to the Atiku and Obasanjo development, but to find ways of using it to the benefit of the Administration. :hail::lol::hail: Reminds me of the song made popular in the Akintola years during the First Republic when people didn't want to get arrested/attacked for not supporting NNDP: Demo ni mo wa. B'oo r'owo mi, o o r'inu mi. Demo ni mo wa! {I support the Demo (NNDP) Party. Even though you see my hand, you don't know my mind!}

Profegee  # 10 | 09.04.2009 11:29

Recent developments have really shown that Atiku is short of quality expected of a local govenment chairman in a nornal setting. From all indications, I am very convinced that those governor, including Orji Kalu, who blindly supported him in 2003, are either birds of the same feather or overestimate his political sagacity. That Atiku was once a disciple of Shehu Musa Yar'Adua does not mean he inherited an atom of the latter's intellectual ability and political understanding. Atiku called Kalu a liar and liability. The PDP leadership refers to Atiku not only as a liar and liability, but also a drowning and hopeless politician. Since IBB has indicated his resolve to retire from politics, I think Atiku should follow suit. Shikena!

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