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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The campaigns across the country, particularly for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, in an election that is still over 11 months away, show how much importance is attached to the polls above the tribulations, war drums, Middle East crisis, US/Israel and Iran bombings engulfing the world.
The crushing effects of the global crisis on the citizens, which have manifested in the traumatising hike in fuel prices, and the spiral increase in the general cost of living, analysts say, appear a secondary issue to the clamour and strategic plotting to outsmart one another in the forthcoming elections.
For most members of the Nigerian political class, the country cannot definitely be held to ransom by discussing and dissipating energy on the crushing effects of the global crisis at the expense of the campaign build-up to next year’s crucial general election.
That might have equally accounted for Nigerians carrying on with election campaigns as if the country is immune to the effects of the global crisis, and as if whoever emerges as the next elected resident will have the antidote and magic wand to provide the tranquilizer and ameliorate the harsh effects of the crisis on the country.
Political campaigns for the forthcoming presidential election, to most political elite, must continue, so as to set the records straight in attributing the current excruciating hardship in the country to the global crisis, and not anything close to the alleged inefficiency of the administration.
With attacks targeted at discrediting and exposing the weakness of the present administration in managing the country as part of the opposition party’s campaign slurs, there is even more justification for the ruling party to escalate the political campaigns, pundits say.
That, perhaps, may be why it did not matter and won’t also count against the government whether the pump price has risen to N1500 per litre, and whether the epileptic power supply has posed a more crippling challenge on the lives of the ordinary citizens.
In the calculations of the political actors, regardless of the situation and their impacts on the people, the political campaigns to deliver their desired candidates must continue as a major priority.
Already, in the reasoning of the majority of Nigerians, every odd and improbabilities seem to have fallen in pleasant places in favour of the incumbent president, going by the intensity of the campaigns the ruling party has vigorously embarked on.
And the concentration of more energies in the campaigns has already resulted in the reason for the sharp division in the opinions on whether President Tinubu and his ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) would easily emerge victorious during next year’s presidential poll or not.
For both the pessimists and incurably optimistic Nigerians, there are clear signs, in the build-up to the crucial poll, that the political configuration and composition are not only in President Tinubu’s favour but also placed him and his ruling party far above other aspirants from the opposition parties.
Supporters with such conviction have argued that, having planted political landmines on the path of the opposition and tightened the grip on the leadership of the opposition party structures, President Tinubu seems to already have a “technical and tactical vantage” over any other contestant to win the election even before the actual voting, a source volunteered.
Daily Sun further gathered that, as part of their arguments in support of the claims that everything is working to his advantage, they referred to the 31 state governors under the grip of the APC that President Tinubu can use as “fall-back weapon of mass destruction to destabilise whoever eventually emerges as the candidates of the opposition parties.”
Daily Sun can report that from the build-up, the presidency, the ruling party’s leadership, and more importantly, the state governors who indirectly want to benefit through the symbiotic relationship, are not only boastfully talking tough but have indicated battle-readiness to deploy every arsenal at their disposal to deliver the needed votes to President Tinubu.
For many others who strongly believe in his re-election, none of the election campaign instruments could be as ferociously potent as his iron-clad grip on the National Assembly, the anti-corruption agencies and more importantly, his alleged stronghold on the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), sources said.
Every observer appears to agree that everything is working to the president’s advantage, especially with the controversial amendment of the Electoral Act.
And to lay more credence to that impression, the Senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, Senator Ali Ndume, only recently argued that other opposition aspirants like Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Chibuke Amaechi don’t have any fresh idea to offer to unseat President Tinubu.
Expressing confidence that the APC will remain in power after the 2027 presidential election, Senator Ndume, who admitted that he is, however, not writing them off totally, quipped: “I am not worried because no one is coming up with anything new.
“Everybody is talking about it. It’s either Tinubu or Atiku or Amaechi or Obi. I don’t see anything that they have presented. The man who is now driving is Tinubu, but those trying to take control, and the ADC itself, are always present here and there every day.
“At first, I had a lot of confidence, but when you see people focusing on gaining power for themselves, it is not a big deal. So far, even though they have strong personalities, they haven’t been able to get their house in order.
“However, you can’t look down on any opponent, no matter how insignificant they seem. Remember, that was how PDP thought about APC at first, that APC wasn’t serious. Buhari attempted several times but didn’t succeed. So, I am not writing off Obi or Amaechi,” he said.
Senator Ndume may be right in his assessment that the inability of the opposition aspirants, particularly the coalition ADC to put aside their personal ambitions and work together for a common goal may work in President Tinubu’s advantage.
For many political watchers, political heavyweights in the mode of Atiku, Obi, and Amaechi, desperately jostling for the presidential ticket without a show of willingness to sacrifice their ambitions, signal high possibilities of ADC imploding after the conduct of the party primaries, scheduled for this month.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, was pungent in warning the gladiators, a few months ago, that the coalition party is not yet ready to challenge the ruling party during the 2027 general elections.
Abdullahi, who was blunt in his warning, emphasised: “For 2027, Nigerians are ready. But I don’t think we are ready. We are not coming together enough. We are not holding hands enough. Nigerians look at us; they see different enclaves and different entities. They see competition rather than cooperation.
“I know I am talking myself into trouble again. I have been under fire recently by some passionate supporters on Twitter. But I will keep saying this because of Nigeria. This country has no substitute, has no alternative. I want to use this opportunity to thank you, but more than I appreciate all the money, more than the money, I beg you, our leaders, I beg you, Nigerians are waiting.
“I was in Delta some weeks before the end of last year. The people at the airport who recognised me came to me and said, ‘please, we know you. You, people, must not fail.’ And I get that everywhere I have gone. I am sure you also get it.
“I am making this appeal: please, come together more. Let our followers direct their passion into the ADC. Let them know there is only one party, and our mission is bigger than anything, any individual or individual ambition. This is what I’m begging. So, I hope that if this is the only thing that this gathering can achieve, Alhamdulillah,” he appealed.
But despite the doubts and unfavourable realities confronting the coalition party, they have also dismissed claims that governors defecting to the APC will help President Tinubu win the election.
The coalition party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, was methodical in recounting the history of how President Tinubu lost Lagos state in 2023 despite being under the APC.
“Something is going on that is worrisome, especially for those of us who are democrats,” Aregbesola said, adding: “The belief that governors can win elections against the will of the people is not supported by the last election.
“Although the APC controlled almost all the South West states, its maximum performance was about 55 per cent, with other parties sharing the rest. The same thing happened in Lagos. The APC candidate lost his ward, local government, and the state. These results clearly show that governors do not win elections, the people do,” Aregbesola emphasised, challenging President Tinubu and the APC to “commit themselves to a free and fair election and “let us see what the result will be.”
However, to the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the presidential election may not be a walkover for the ruling party. While dismissing the impression in many quarters that the election has already gone in Tinubu’s favour in a chat with Daily Sun, Morka said it will not be a walkover.
“I don’t know who is telling you that because, as the national spokesperson, I can tell you that they don’t speak for the party. As the national spokesman, I have never said, suggested, written, or conveyed any type of information that suggested that the 2027 presidential election is a walkover.
“Anybody who says that is merely speaking for himself, not for the party. As far as we are concerned, we are working very hard as a party, night and day, without leaving any stone unturned, to prepare for the 2027 election. Mr. President is working hard, governing the country, giving us results with which to campaign and campaign really hard, to persuade Nigerians and the least voters, to support us with their votes.
“We will campaign hard to give Nigerians reason to support our party and vote for us so that at the end of the day, when the votes are counted, we will again win and win massively. That is our commitment, and whatever you hear elsewhere cannot be attributed to the party,” he said.
But, does he foresee any threat from the opposition, particularly political heavyweights like Atiku and Obi? The APC spokesman replied: “Whether the opposition is ready or not, we are preparing. We are not preparing in relation to the strength of the opposition.
“We are preparing because any competition requires preparation, and accordingly, any competition requires proper, full, robust preparation. That is our goal, modus operandi, and mantra. So, it has nothing to do with the character, creed, or levels of the opposition,” he said.
“How can Atiku and Obi be a force or threat? They are Nigerians, free to do what they want, and we are free to do what we want. We are appealing to Nigerians to vote for us. We are not obsessed with them as they are obsessed with us. Let them continue to be obsessed with us while we continue to focus on the business of building our party,” Morka said.
