By Adesina Soyooye 

Atiku desperation has beclouded him – Kwankwasiyya

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has been roasted by opposition political parties over his comments that it is not possible for a Southern Presidential Candidate to defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.

Recall that Atiku had taken an exception to the zoning of the Presidential seat by opposition Parties to the South. He vehemently warned against it, and   argued that while it is okay for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to retain its zoning arrangement in the south with  President Tinubu as its candidate it would be politically naive and unwise for the opposition to choose same Zone for its candidate. According to Atiku, it is akin to handing Tinubu victory on a platter of gold.

But both the Kwankwasiyya and Obidient Movements strongly disagree with the former Vice President position.

They dismissed Atiku’s  argument in an interview with The Punch as “politically narrow, divisive and inconsistent with the country’s power-sharing understanding.”

Habibu Muhammed, spokesman for the Kwankwasiyya Movement, dismissed  Atiku’s stand as “insulting and divisive.”

He said “I believe Atiku is only talking for himself. I think his desperation is such that he could not even hide it or give it a different colour.

“To me, that statement is insulting. It is like saying there is no qualified person other than yourself in all the States in the South.

“The former Vice President has continued to showcase some kind of primordial thoughts. This does not actually relate to someone who has experience, once ran with a Southerner, worked with Southerners and even married a Southerner.

“If you begin to echo out what you personally believe that loudly, to me, it is insulting. It means he actually wanted to promote something else, not national unity.

“He was trying to arm people who already don’t see anything good in the South. He is just giving them ammunition to continue to amplify the hatred and defy the division that is already there.

“What we need now is a ticket that will bring unity to this country, calm nerves and make people generally feel at home.

“Whether we like it or not, it is already part of us, and it is within our consciousness that it is only natural when a Northerner serves a term of eight years. He gives way for a Southerner also to do the same.

“So the best thing for now is to actually give another Southerner the chance and Nigerians the opportunity to choose from the same zone. At least, they have a choice to go for someone who may actually lessen their pain or who may change the way things are.” 

In Labour Party’s response, its National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, dismissed Atiku’s stand, and insisted that the 2023 presidential election  already made nonsense of the argument that a Southern opposition candidate could not defeat another southerner.

Asogwa: “With due respect to the former Vice President and the experience he has garnered in Nigerian politics over the past three decades, I am sorry to say that he got his permutation wrong.

“Even going by what transpired in 2023, the analysis is flawed. We had two strong Southern candidates, alongside pockets of support for other Southern candidates, yet a Southerner still emerged victorious.

“The combined votes of the two northern candidates in that election – Atiku (6.9m votes) and Kwankwaso (1.4m votes) – were still less than what one southern candidate – Tinubu (8.7m votes) – got in the election.

“More importantly, the permutation is built on the erroneous assumption that regional origin is the only factor that determines voting behaviour in Nigeria. It ignores the prevailing national mood and the deeper considerations that shape electoral choices.

“For instance, a voter from the Middle Belt is likely to vote based on what each candidate’s presidency represents for the security, inclusion, and stability of their region.

“And as we know, the Middle Belt is not merely a geographical region; it is an identity that cuts across the three geopolitical zones in the North.

“Therefore, with due respect, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar’s argument is pedestrian,” he said.

National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Yunusa Tanko, said Obi and Kwankwaso moved to the NDC after discovering plans to entangle the ADC in litigations that could deny them presidential tickets.

“It is very important to go out and educate those who do not know why Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso moved from the ADC to the NDC.

“They put up a booby-trap so that by the time they are in there (ADC), they will close the gap using litigation and ensure that they do not have a ticket.

“But God made it possible for us to see the danger ahead of them. So, we provided an alternative, which is the NDC. The door of the NDC is open to us. Let us move en masse and build the party. Let’s get a ticket for Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

“They have the wherewithal. They are young, have capacity, consistent, character, accountable and have compassion.”