APC deploys reluctant Buhari to battlefield

After a six-day Christmas and New Year break, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, last week resumed his presidential campaign activities with three public rallies that week in Kano, Edo and Ondo States, and with town hall engagements with the youth.

Most notably, the party’s Presidential Campaign Council has announced a review of its campaign schedule, indicating that President Muhammadu Buhari will join the campaign train. Mr. Buhari’s decision to stay away from the campaign has raised concerns in the party, as many see it as a sign of cracks in the ruling party.

The unrest prompted the president to issue a press statement in December to dispel speculation that president Buhari was not enthusiastic about Mr. Tinubu’s presidency.

PREMIUM TIMES has also reported that Messrs. Buhari and Tinubu held a closed door meeting at the villa amid reports that President Buhari is deliberately avoiding the campaign despite promising to lead from the front.

Opposition party operatives have interpreted Mr. Buhari’s “body language” to indicate the entire campaign is not going well.

However, Festus Keyamo, one of the spokespersons of the APC PCC, in an interview on Arise TV, said Mr. Buhari’s detachment was because he did not want to install puppets like former President Olusegun Obasanjo did in 2007 during his campaign across the country. to ensure Umar Yar’Adua won the 2007 Election.

“President Buhari is not like Obasanjo, who wants to install puppets. You see what he (Obasanjo) did in 2007, which was not salutary, for all patriots – that is when the do-or-die mantra appeared. If you remember sir, at that time he said that this election is do-or-die for him. Leaders should not act like that. President Buhari is a shoulder above Obasanjo in this regard. He was at our flag-off event in Jos,” Mr. Keyamo said.

According to the new schedule, Mr. Buhari will attend rallies in 10 countries, namely; Adamawa, Cross River, Ogun, Kwara, Yobe, Nasarawa, Katsina, Imo and Lagos.

The selection of Adamawa as the first stop of the campaign seems to be a good one, as the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, hails from the state. However, President Buhari is also popular in Adamawa, if the results of the last presidential election are used as a yardstick.

The APC in Adamawa State appears to have prepared its house and is ready to surround its gubernatorial candidate, Aisha Binani. The post-primary internal feud between Ms Binani and a close friend of Mr Tinubu, Nuhu Ribadu, has been going on for some time.

Ms. Binani, perhaps to force the hand of Messrs. Tinubu and Ribadu, resigned from the Presidential Campaign Council while the political tussle was still on.

In the end, Mr. Ribadu chose not to appeal the lower court’s ruling on the dispute, therefore, confirming Mrs. Binani as the party’s gubernatorial candidate.

Now, it appears that the party is united in the state, with the exception of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the aggrieved Northern Christian Leader of the APC, who opposed the Muslim/Muslim ticket of the APC.

Already, Mr. Buhari’s scheduled visit has generated reactions in the country because of the venue. The Secretary to the Adamawa State Government, Bashir Ahmad, has written a letter to the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, that the Ribadu Field in the state capital is undergoing renovation, thus asking Mr. Buhari and the APC to reschedule.

More interestingly, Mr. Buhari will attend a rally in his home state, Katsina State, where he will help stem the surge in popularity of the PDP and the New Nigerian People’s Party.

The APC in the president’s home state has been in turmoil since the primary election. Several lawmakers in the state, including the lawmakers representing Mr. Buhari in the Senate and House of Representatives, Baba Kaita and Fatahu Muhammadu, have quit the party. Several other members of the House of Representatives lost their bid to regain their seats.

Also, in December, the PDP held a presidential rally, and the large turnout seemed to send a signal to the ruling party that the state is up for grabs. But the PDP in Katsina was not without internal wrangling as former Governor Ibrahim Shema and 10 other members of the Katsina State PDP working committee avoided the rally because of the tussle for the governorship ticket.

Mr. Shema and others opposed the emergence of Yakubu Lado as the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the state.

Perhaps in order not to take any chances, the APC deployed Mr. Buhari to save the situation in the country. What remains unclear is how the president can convince the country to vote for the ruling party despite the public insecurity in the country that has forced many citizens to leave. Killings and kidnappings for ransom have disrupted economic activity in the country.

While Mr. Buhari can boast about the establishment of the University of Transport, the Federal Medical Center, and the Air Force Referral Hospital – all in Daura, but all these projects in Daura by the sdministration have caused unrest in the country.

Last month, a member of the House of Representatives, Ibrahim Babangida, raised the alarm about the distribution of projects in the country. In a motion moved on the floor of the House, Mr. Babangida requested that FMC Daura should be transferred to Funtua Senatorial District because he claimed marginalization of the district in the distribution of projects.

Buhari’s non-transferable vote

Undoubtedly, Mr. Buhari has strong electoral power in the North-West and North-East but it often seems that his votes are not transferable.

Since 2003 when he first contested, he has consistently received more than 10 million votes—except for 2007 where he received more than six million votes.

However, in 2011, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) produced only one governor during the general election, despite Mr. Buhari receiving over 12 million votes in the presidential election.

During the last election, he won Kano, Sokoto, and Bauchi with huge margins, but two weeks after the presidential election, his party lost the governorship election in Bauchi and Sokoto, and survived in Kano after a controversial run-off.

Furthermore, Mr. Buhari has a history of not spending political capital unless his personal political ventures are on the line. In 2019, during the tussle in Ogun State, between Adekunle Akinlade and Dapo Abiodun over the governorship ticket, President Buhari asked the voters to vote for APC in the presidential election and his choice in the governorship election, even though Mr. Akinlade and his allies have decamped to APM. .

“On Saturday, February 16, you should vote for the APC Presidential candidate. But I want to urge you to vote for who you like among the parties as the governor of Ogun State.

“There is no problem with that. I have no problem with that. Other people from Ogun State will decide,” he said during a rally in Abeokuta.

In essence, Mr. Buhari told the party that he was loyal to vote for him and do whatever he wants during the governorship election.

Similarly, in the fight between Henry Nwosu and Hope Uzodinma in Imo State, Mr. Buhari repeated the same statement.

“You can vote for whoever you want, don’t let intra or inter-party affairs stop you from voting for the candidate of your choice,” he said.

In what appears to be a close race, the APC appears poised to deploy every arm in its arsenal, including the reluctant Chairman of the Campaign Council.

Labor Division between Tinubu and Shettima

While Mr. Tinubu was in Edo State, his counterpart, Kashim Shettima, was in Rano and Gaya to honor traditional rulers in Kano State. Since the rally in Kano, he has been criss-crossing the north to rally support for his party. Last Friday, he was at Emir Gumel’s palace.

Visiting traditional leaders outside the state capital was attempted in December when Mr. Tinubu insisted on visiting Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State despite security challenges in the area. He also visited Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State.

The ruling party seems to be sending a former governor of Borno State to visit powerful traditional rulers outside the state capital in the north. Although Mr. Shettima belongs to the Kanuri tribe, his use of the Hausa language in the North can be an advantage.

Tinubu people removed the endorsement of Obasanjo they never sought

Mr. Tinubu and his campaign have repeatedly taken jabs at the endorsement of the Labor Party candidate, Peter Obi, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

During a rally in Edo and Ondo, the former Governor of Lagos State directed his mission to the former president.

At a rally in Benin City, Mr. Tinubu said: “Can Obasanjo give leadership advice to anyone in Nigeria? People who do not know the way cannot show the way”.

Earlier, Bayo Onanuga, one of the spokespersons of the PCC, described the former president’s endorsement as meaningless.

“The endorsement is completely meaningless because the former president has no political intention or influence anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win the council election, let alone win the presidential election. He is a political paper,” Mr. Onanuga said.

Ironically, some of Mr. Tinubu’s close allies once celebrated Mr. Obasanjo’s “perceived endorsement” in 2022.

In August 2022, Mr. Tinubu and some friends visited the former president at his country house in Ota, Ogun State. The duo meet behind the door. After the meeting, some of Mr. Tinubu’s loyalists explained the engagement as an endorsement.

Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, told constituents in Surulere Federal Constituency in Lagos State that Mr. Obasanjo said something that reassured him of victory for APC.

“My people, what I heard there, what Obasanjo said, Asiwaju’s victory is assured.

“Obasanjo spoke at length and we were all happy. He hugged our candidate like a brother, patted him on the back, and prayed a lot,” he said.

A few days later, Mr. Obasanjo denied the endorsement and started showing his preference for the former governor of Anambra State.

“Those who claim to be insiders at the meeting publish statements about the discussions and those who claim statements that I have not made are enemies of the visitors and did not conduct the visit well,” he said.

To clear all doubts, Mr. Obasanjo, in classic letter writing style, endorsed Mr. Obi, while taking swipes at other candidates and the current administration. He specifically mentioned Mr. Tinubu’s “Emi Lokan” slogan.

“Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (my turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same and the wrong attitude and mentality for today’s Nigerian leaders.”

Mr. Obasanjo has since been able to achieve one thing – he united the APC and PDP because both camps were unanimous in downplaying Mr. Obasanjo’s influence; unlike in the 2015 and 2019 elections, when there was disagreement about the sincerity of the former General’s endorsement.

In 2015, APC celebrated Mr. Obasanjo’s endorsement, while PDP welcomed him in 2019.