Ahead of the 2023 Presidential election, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are going the whole distance in a bid to win the support of eligible Nigerians of voting age to keep faith with whoever will emerge as their respective flag bearer.
While the APC is convinced the past eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s stewardship is enough to make the party retain tenancy of Aso Rock for at least another four years; the opposition party believes its return in 2023 is the surest way to rebuild a new Nigeria.
For APC, Presidential hopeful range from the vastly experienced to political greenhorns with the N100m expression of interest and nomination fee not big enough to scare many out of the race for the ticket. Yemi Osinbajo, Bola Tinubu, Rotimi Amaechi, Chris Ngige, Ahmed Lawan, Tunde Bakare, Emeka Nwajiuba, Godswill Akpabio, Dave Umahi, Ogbonnaya Onu and a host of others have all joined the race for the sole ticket.
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As for the PDP, the race is peopled by familiar faces, some of whom vied for the ticket four years ago. Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, Aminu Tambuwal, Bala Mohammed, Bello Hayatu-Deen, Nyesom Wike, Udom Emmanuel, Peter Obi, Sam Ohuabunwa, Dele Momodu among others, will test their popularity at the PDP Presidential convention slated for Abuja if the consensus option fails.
Although Nigerians, given the economic squeeze that combs the land, have been critical of the two parties over the cost of their nomination forms; what shocked citizens and residents of Africa’s largest country recently was the purchase of the APC Presidential forms for ex-President Goodluck Jonathan by Fulani stakeholders in the land.
Yes, Jonathan has not been involved in recent times in the activities of the PDP; a party on which platform, he attained national and global prominence but his defection to APC is a thing not even political pundits foresaw a few years ago.
However, as reported by many national dailies (Vanguard inclusive), the once-shoeless kid is now seriously considering the possibility of giving the Presidency another shot after losing to incumbent President in 2015.
Jonathan cost PDP dearly in 2015
As aptly captured by Segun Adeniyi and Bolaji Abdullahi in their books, “Against the Run of Play” and “On a Platter of Gold,” Jonathan’s decision to run in 2015 rather than give way to the North to produce a Presidential candidate for the PDP, played a huge role in the defeat the party suffered in the hands of the APC.
Jonathan, it would be recalled became President in May 2010 following the death in office of President Umaru Yar’Adua. Upon the completion of that tenure in 2011, he insisted on running in clear violation of the PDP zoning principle which would have seen a Northerner complete a tenure of four years the zone was denied of when Yar’Adua died. But he had a right to do second term and many saw with him.
Jonathan won the election in 2011 after the likes of former President, Olusegun Obasanjo pleaded for him to be allowed to run and consolidate on the achievements of the Yar’ Adua/ Jonathan administration.
The North was however taken aback when Jonathan again re-positioned himself for another shot at the plum seat in 2015, as the PDP leadership shut the door against prospective aspirants by printing only a form it sold to their beloved Jonathan. As expected, the man took an electoral bashing in the mould of what former US President Barack Obama termed “Shellacking.”