OPINION: The Third Force best bet ahead of 2019 elections

Editor's note: Public affairs analyst, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, writes on the ideal presidential candidate who should represent the emerging Third Force Movement to challenge the duo of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming 2019 presidential election.

Read below:

I have great respect for all Third Force presidential candidates and I believe they deserve more respect than they are getting. Nobody thought Barack Obama could be US president until he became US president. Many of those who mocked him for aspiring in the first place eventually became his most ardent supporters. This is how life works.

So, if you are supporting a Third Force candidate, be proud of yourself because not many people often get the message in early stage, you are one of the special few. Believe me, when I see people supporting any Third Force candidate with so much vigour and commitment, I admire those individuals greatly. It's not easy to break away from the bandwagon effect. Many often wish they can be like you, but lack the courage to do so.

Ademola H Adigun has stated that he his rooting for Madam Oby Ezekwesili even when he knew she wouldn't win. That is a principled stance based on conviction.

Hon Mustapha Mudasir Ayanfe is rooting for Kingsley Moghalu, though he asserted that he knew he also would not win. That is also principled.

For Inibehe Effiong, it's Omoyele Sowore or nothing. For him, Sowore has the conviction that he would win, but would he? Everybody knows that I am for Gbenga Olawepo Hashim and I strongly believe that he's the best candidate in this election, not only in terms of ideas and capacity, but also in planning and projection. If you are truly looking for a Third Force candidate capable of winning this election, do not ignore Olawepo-Hashim, who has gathered so many important endorsements, ranging from the Middle Belt Forum led by many of it's past governors, ministers, generals and others. You can not ignore him because of the numerous other political parties that have adopted him as their candidate.

Just yesterday, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) also did same and all of their governorship, senatorial and house of representatives candidates in south west joined list of his endorsers. Many others are rooting for Tope Fasua, Fela Durotoye etc. For me, irrespective of the Third Force candidate you are rooting for, you deserve some commendation for standing out and I respect you.

Now, let's get to the basics of the presidential contest. For a candidate to be declared winner of the election, he must, in addition to having the popular vote, have 2/3rd majority.

This means that, to stand a chance of being a serious contender in this election, the Third Force candidate must be well spread in at least, 2/3rd of the country. By spread, I mean a structure, which include having candidates running election in 2/3rd of the country or at least, be structurally available in 50% of the country.

The Third Force candidates must not just think about being on the ballot and on the media, there must be a deliberate plan that is practical to cause a major upset. Unfortunately, out of a possible 450 national elective positions to be contested for, Tope Fasua's party, ANRP has only 17 candidates.

Fela Durotoye party, ANN has only 21 candidates. Omoyele Sowore's party, AAC has only 31, Oby Ezekwesili's ACPN has only 56 and Kingsley Moghalu's YPP has only 70 candidates. If you add all these numbers together, it gives us about 190 candidates. So, while Tope, Sowore, Fela, Kingsley and Oby joined together has about 190 candidates, Olawepo-Hashim alone has more than their combined force in terms of spread.

Olawepo Hashim's party, People's Trust (PT) nominated about 200 candidates and one of the most vibrant candidate running under PT is Barrister Tony Akika, a former Attorney-General in Nasarawa state, running for House of Representatives.

Apart from the PT, which fielded the highest nomination among all newly registered party, several other political parties have equally formed alliances with Olawepo-Hashim's PT, raising his spread to over 2/3rd of the country. This is a basic requirements to be a strong contender and in my opinion.

The point I am trying to make is that, rather than go into this election, knowing fully well that most of our vibrant candidates do not have the structural spread to compete for victory even from a constitutional point of view, why not support Olawepo-Hashim who is in the prime position to compete?

In terms of the issues, Olawepo-Hashim has been adjudged as the one with most in-depth understanding of the issues and has proffered practicable solutions.

In terms of experience, he is a global business man with investment in four continents of the world, particularly in Nigeria's energy and oil and gas sector, coupled with his human rights credential as a 1989 amnesty international prisoner of conscience and his political participation as member of G34 that led the process of returning Nigeria to democracy in 1999. Olawepo-Hashim has proven that he his well prepared.

Read more: https://www.legit.ng/1216691-opinion-the-third-force-bet-2019-elections.html

All you 3rd force are closet apc supporters. Atiku would still win in February insha Allah!

?

These guys should stop wasting their time and money. This election is between APC and PDP.

The other day, Kingsley Moghalu said he had spent N200m out of his money to fund the campaign for an election he knows he can never win.

I wonder the kinda Igbo man he is because our people don't think like that.

Olawepo-Hashim is gonna carry last for sure ..his publicity is too poor

I have always desired this 3RD FORCE.
For me APC & PDP are no go area.

I wish Daniel Wilson completed his track that Never, never will we vote for APC or PDP again.
We need a new Nigeria now,

Atiku is our man

Sowore.

Sai Atiku/Obi

Only one presidential candidate and his vice will win their state in the forthcoming election the rest will lose their sate

Who is olawepo hashim ,hearing it for the first time

sonature1:
These guys should stop wasting their time and money. This election is between APC and PDP.

The other day, Kingsley Moghalu said he had spent N200m out of his money to fund the campaign for an election he knows he can never win.

I wonder the kinda Igbo man he is because our people don't think like that.

And you never thought of where the money � came from if he dont have boys all over Asian country

Isoduwa:



And you never thought of where the money � came from if he dont have boys all over Asian country

Keep quiet, mister!
Moghalu was once a top figure at the CBN
FYI, I won't reply you again

No third force like OMOYELE SOWORE ... Bold, Intelligent and Consistent with too much integrity. Forget Atiku and Buhari, No second chance.

Third Force should join Atiku. The most important thing now is to save the country and to do that u have to send the old man back to Daura

shakmati:
All you 3rd force are closet apc supporters. Atiku would still win in February insha Allah!

yes! he will win in Biafra land and on Nairaland and Twitter and will be swear in on Instagram.

yeye!

your eyes go clear in February

KingsCity:
Third Force should join Atiku. The most important thing now is to save the country and to do that u have to send the old man back to Daura

Them no wan use their head now. They should know that BuBu is a common Enemy of the State, sometimes I just feel like they're all point spoilers working for the APC . Who 3rd force epp using Obama as example, when our democracy never even ripe reach our neighbors here in Ghana

Sowore understands the dynamism of Nigerian politics going by his antecedents in politics while he was still in university pursuing his first degree and he is a kind of leader who can think on his feet.So let's see who emerges as the arrow head of the third force.Here we are with choices before us as opined by Octavia,whether to be led by coward and be controlled by all that coward fears or to be led by a thief and offer up our precious treasures to be stolen or be led by a tyrant and continue in slavery or in addition,be led by someone with the sense of purposeful and vibrant leadership and enjoy the true meaning of democracy.

Nawa o.
The only people of the third first I can recognize are Sowore and Oby. I don't even know what the others look like.

We know first and second force

APC.......first force

AAC.........second force

Others are still learning.

People are jostling to be first this one is still convenient to be called a third force. Vote splitters shouldn't be taken serious, ATIKULATION is the movement


Check my siggy, get your electronics, SMART TVs, air conditioners, washing machines and sound bars at affordable rate,payment on delivery, BUY4ME services available too with POD option

anyway I am not in the country neither do I have a voter's card but my love for Sowore is out of this world,I wish I could vote for him

HERE IN NIGER STATE I'VE NOT SEEN ONE SINGLE CAMPANING POSTER OF THE SO CALLED "SOWORE"

bilms:
OPINION: The Third Force best bet ahead of 2019 elections

Editor's note: Public affairs analyst, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, writes on the ideal presidential candidate who should represent the emerging Third Force Movement to challenge the duo of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming 2019 presidential election.

Read below:

I have great respect for all Third Force presidential candidates and I believe they deserve more respect than they are getting. Nobody thought Barack Obama could be US president until he became US president. Many of those who mocked him for aspiring in the first place eventually became his most ardent supporters. This is how life works.

So, if you are supporting a Third Force candidate, be proud of yourself because not many people often get the message in early stage, you are one of the special few. Believe me, when I see people supporting any Third Force candidate with so much vigour and commitment, I admire those individuals greatly. It's not easy to break away from the bandwagon effect. Many often wish they can be like you, but lack the courage to do so.

Ademola H Adigun has stated that he his rooting for Madam Oby Ezekwesili even when he knew she wouldn't win. That is a principled stance based on conviction.

Hon Mustapha Mudasir Ayanfe is rooting for Kingsley Moghalu, though he asserted that he knew he also would not win. That is also principled.

For Inibehe Effiong, it's Omoyele Sowore or nothing. For him, Sowore has the conviction that he would win, but would he? Everybody knows that I am for Gbenga Olawepo Hashim and I strongly believe that he's the best candidate in this election, not only in terms of ideas and capacity, but also in planning and projection. If you are truly looking for a Third Force candidate capable of winning this election, do not ignore Olawepo-Hashim, who has gathered so many important endorsements, ranging from the Middle Belt Forum led by many of it's past governors, ministers, generals and others. You can not ignore him because of the numerous other political parties that have adopted him as their candidate.

Just yesterday, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) also did same and all of their governorship, senatorial and house of representatives candidates in south west joined list of his endorsers. Many others are rooting for Tope Fasua, Fela Durotoye etc. For me, irrespective of the Third Force candidate you are rooting for, you deserve some commendation for standing out and I respect you.

Now, let's get to the basics of the presidential contest. For a candidate to be declared winner of the election, he must, in addition to having the popular vote, have 2/3rd majority.

This means that, to stand a chance of being a serious contender in this election, the Third Force candidate must be well spread in at least, 2/3rd of the country. By spread, I mean a structure, which include having candidates running election in 2/3rd of the country or at least, be structurally available in 50% of the country.

The Third Force candidates must not just think about being on the ballot and on the media, there must be a deliberate plan that is practical to cause a major upset. Unfortunately, out of a possible 450 national elective positions to be contested for, Tope Fasua's party, ANRP has only 17 candidates.

Fela Durotoye party, ANN has only 21 candidates. Omoyele Sowore's party, AAC has only 31, Oby Ezekwesili's ACPN has only 56 and Kingsley Moghalu's YPP has only 70 candidates. If you add all these numbers together, it gives us about 190 candidates. So, while Tope, Sowore, Fela, Kingsley and Oby joined together has about 190 candidates, Olawepo-Hashim alone has more than their combined force in terms of spread.

Olawepo Hashim's party, People's Trust (PT) nominated about 200 candidates and one of the most vibrant candidate running under PT is Barrister Tony Akika, a former Attorney-General in Nasarawa state, running for House of Representatives.

Apart from the PT, which fielded the highest nomination among all newly registered party, several other political parties have equally formed alliances with Olawepo-Hashim's PT, raising his spread to over 2/3rd of the country. This is a basic requirements to be a strong contender and in my opinion.

The point I am trying to make is that, rather than go into this election, knowing fully well that most of our vibrant candidates do not have the structural spread to compete for victory even from a constitutional point of view, why not support Olawepo-Hashim who is in the prime position to compete?

In terms of the issues, Olawepo-Hashim has been adjudged as the one with most in-depth understanding of the issues and has proffered practicable solutions.

In terms of experience, he is a global business man with investment in four continents of the world, particularly in Nigeria's energy and oil and gas sector, coupled with his human rights credential as a 1989 amnesty international prisoner of conscience and his political participation as member of G34 that led the process of returning Nigeria to democracy in 1999. Olawepo-Hashim has proven that he his well prepared.

Read more: https://www.legit.ng/1216691-opinion-the-third-force-bet-2019-elections.html

Why am I reading a campaign material early in the morning. I will check again sha. It might be meaningful. For me APCPDP isn't it. But Sowore started out early and has had town hall meanings in all the states, Oby is a well known face in and out of government. For the others campaigns on FB and elsewhere apart from the from road is not it.

That is the truth