Nearly two years to the next
general elections, a major political battle over who succeeds President
Muhammadu Buhari after the expiration of his first tenure in 2019 has begun in
earnest.
The development comes even as feelers from top presidency and the
ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) sources confirmed that Buhari
would likely seek re-election as he has never told anybody that he would not
seek a second term at the expiration of his first term in 2019.
Saturday Sun learnt that the battle for the president’s hot seat would
be on three major political fronts. The first and predictably most ferocious
would be fought by aspirants from the president’s party, the APC while another
would be by aspirants from the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic
Party(PDP). The third group in the battle line is mainly those seeking
relevance and patronage over who to support in the ensuing power struggle.
Among leading aspirants battling to succeed Buhari in the APC include
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido
and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Saturday Sun also learnt that others subtly eyeing the plum seat
include the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Governors Aminu Tambuwal and Nasir
el-Rufai of Sokoto and Kaduna states respectively.
In the main opposition party, apart from the Ekiti State governor, Ayo
Fayose who has openly declared his 2019 presidential ambition, others are former
Senate President, David Mark and former governor of Cross River State, Donald
Duke. But Saturday Sun learnt from a top APC leader that President Buhari would
likely throw his hat in the ring again for another four years in 2019.
The source said that it remains his constitutional right to do so and
that at no time did Buhari tell anybody that he would do only one term as
claimed by the Women Affairs minister, Aisha Alhassan.
The source explained that in 2010 ahead of the 2011 presidential
election, Buhari had made a commitment that if voted into power, he would do
only one term but never said so in his campaign ahead of the 2015 general
elections.
The battle within
Even though the next presidential election is still faraway, there is
an increasing indication that the most fierce political war of succession would
be fought among aspirants in the ruling party, the APC.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan literally
blew the whistle for the race when she openly expressed her support for former
Vice President Atiku Abubakar even while still serving under Buhari. Our source
revealed that apart from Alhassan, Buhari’s political strategists would soon
move against all those whose loyalty are in doubt ahead of the next
presidential election.
Saturday Sun learnt that
Alhassan who was sighted at the presidential villa where she restated her
support for Atiku would likely be the first casualty of Buhari’s re-election
ambition as she may be forced to resign after her audacious support for Atiku,
her benefactor.
The Women Affairs minister’s offence was the open endorsement of the
former vice president for the 2019 presidential election when she led a private
visit to Mr. Abubakar.
Popularly called Mama Taraba, Mrs. Alhassan was the APC governorship candidate
in Taraba in 2015, an election she narrowly lost to the current PDP governor in
the state, Darius Dickson Ishaku.
Her support for Mr. Abubakar will not be surprising for political
observers, as the former vice president is believed to be a major financier of
the APC in the North-east including Taraba.
Although Mr. Abubakar has not publicly declared his intention to run
in 2019, he is believed to be mobilising and getting ready for the election. He
came third in the APC presidential primaries in the build up to the 2015
elections, losing to President Buhari and ex-Kano governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The former vice president has never hidden his presidential ambition
having contested the 2007 presidential election on the platform of the defunct
Action Congress (AC) after realizing that he could not get the PDP ticket
because of his frosty relationship with former President Obasanjo. Also, the
APC chieftain had contested the presidential ticket with former President
Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, and in 2015, he lost the APC primaries to Buhari
again.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Former governor of Kano State, Kwankwaso is one man whose ambition to
lead the country has been in the public domain for some time now. He is
currently a serving senator representing Kano Central at the Upper Chamber of
the National Assembly and was a presidential aspirant in the 2015 general
election. Ahead of
2019, there are feelers that his Kwankwasiyya political structure has already
started underground work to project him to the plum position.
Battle
from outside
As the clock ticks toward 2019, Saturday Sun findings also show that
many aspirants are already working behind the scene to succeed Buhari in 2019.
A top member of the PDP hierarchy confirmed that the aspirants believe that no
time would be better than 2019 to upstage the APC-led government.
He said the ruling party has lost the magic wand it used in winning
the 2015 presidential election and would be an easy prey in the next general
election.
Some of those eyeing the seat in the PDP family include former Senate
President, David Mark, Governors of Ekiti and Gombe states, Ayo Fayose and
Ibrahim Dankwambo respectively, as well as former governor of Jigawa State,
Sule Lamido. However, a source told Saturday Sun that the PDP would not like to
make the mistake of the 2015 general elections by going to 2019 as a divided
house.
He said that even though some aspirants of the PDP are already
positioning for the presidential seat, the party hierarchy is being cautious to
ensure that it presents an “unbeatable” candidate in 2019.
Positioning for patronage
For this group, the battle is among those seeking political relevance
as they position for the right candidate to support ahead of the next general
election. Saturday Sun learnt that even though they are not in the race, there
is so much bickering among them for relevance.
Among the teeming population of people in this group, while some are
in support of Buhari’s re-election, others are positioning for a possible
successor to Buhari in 2019.
In the Niger-Delta region for instance, the jostling for 2019 has created
a sharp divide between the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) led by Chief Edwin
Clark and some other power brokers in the region anchored by the immediate past
Pro-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, and former President of the Ijaw
National Congress (INC), Prof. Kimse Okoko.
While Chief Clark’s group appears to have some level of soft spot for
the Buhari administration, Okoko who
is a prominent member of the Southern Leaders of Thought believes that 2019
general election may just be a pipe dream if Nigeria is not restructured before
then.
The situation is not different in the South East as many of the
gladiators are positioning themselves for a possible change in the political
equation that may offer the zone the chance to produce the Vice Presidential
slot.
The situation is tougher in the North where power brokers are
literally torn apart as they battle to give allegiance to various aspirants
getting set for the next general elections. While some are ready to swim and
sink with Buhari, others are positioning to take a chance among other aspirants.
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