In this report, AHURAKA YUSUF ISAH takes a look at the antecedents of the two major presidential flag bearers, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stating that the prevailing conditions rather than candidates’ backgrounds will determine choices of Nigerians in 2019 presidential election.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, it is most certain that Nigerians will have to make a choice between incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2019 Presidential election. The emerging political theatre may remind one of a discourse in Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of two cities’’ which is set in London and in Paris and the French countryside at the time of the French Revolution. The book is sympathetic to the overthrow of the French aristocracy but highly critical of the reign of terror that followed. With dramatic eloquence, he brings to life a time of terror and treason, a starving people rising in frenzy and hate to overthrow a corrupt and decadent regime.
Dickens, perhaps tells it all in a terse summary; ‘’ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, …in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, …’’

The strongest point upon which Buhari was voted president of Nigeria in 2015 was his avowed campaigns to rid the country of corruption and insurgency ravaging the country.
Nigerians won’t forget easily, he came to rout out the Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari’s administration on charges of corruption in 1983 and mounted an offensive against entrenched interests. Buhari justified his barely two years military’s seizure of power from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, by castigating the civilian government as ‘’hopelessly corrupt’’; arguing that “a flawed democracy was worse than no democracy at all”. In 20 months as Military Head of State, about 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed for corruption during his stewardship. Detainees were released after releasing sums to the government and agreeing to meet certain conditions.

However, President Buhari constituted his cabinet six months after his inauguration with claims that he was taking his time to choose the right team for his government. After the long wait, Nigerians were greeted by a not too inspiring list of nominees for the cabinet, as many believed that they were made up of people with questionable past, incompetence and tired hands, many of who contributed to the dismal state of the country he promised to set a right. This is just as most of his aides are people he grew up with or know for quite a long time, thereby appointing them in highly sensitive positions, irrespective of their qualifications. There are those he simply entrusted with official responsibilities due to his relationship with the persons’ parents or family connections.
He promised to turn exchange rate then from near N150 per one dollar to N1 per $1. The Central Bank Governor he inherited from previous government is still there managing 5-different exchange rates, with dollar exchanging for over N500 at a time. The finance minister has just bowed out after he was caught to have forged her NYSC exemption certificate.
No doubt, there are, however, some trusted and competent professionals in the team. Now, over 3 years down the lane or into inauguration of this administration, however, the country has yet to experience the needed progress in some critical sectors. Many have given the administration a low score, and attributed the failure of the executive largely to some poor-performing members of the cabinet, which the President has refused to change; except for those trapped in wild controversies. This is aside the ugly scenes of in-fighting amongst members of the same government, just as some with unprecedented audacity counters President’s nominations without serving punishments for it.

A cursory glance at the governors who have scored low points on performance and failed to pay workers’ salaries in their states are governors so dear to President’s heart. Ditto, the ministers, aides and assistants highly close to the President are the very ones so indulgent of him and also undoing him with cheerless performance. One of the greatest let down of the administration is the obtuse or thick-headedness, highly inaccessible to their constituencies, whether of abode or profession. No sooner than they got to their present positions, when they abandoned or distanced themselves from their childhood friends, professional colleagues and erstwhile contacts and benefactors. This is why there are general complaints of hunger, misery, deprivation and insistence that the wealth is getting concentrated in few hands of those in government, President’s men and women and their relatives.
Salaries are not paid by many state governors for 20 to 30 months running despite the monthly allocations, federal government bailouts, Paris club sharing and internal generated funds. They are not under any control just as they turn states fund to their fiefdom. It’s just recently governors were told to render returns on salary payment updates before accessing the new bailout, yet most of the defaulting governors are already forging documents to meet needed requirements. This is just as most of them have not invited the president to commission projects, yet no one ask them to explain.
The anti-corruption war is being fought without a confirmed EFCC chairman, Senate has relied on DSS reports signed by its ousted boss, Lawal Daura indicating that Ibrahim Magu is not fit and proper for the job. This is just as anti-corruption suits are easier lost in the courts than won in courts under the AGF Abubakar Malami (SAN) due to poor prosecution. Besides, Malami hardly attend judiciary events even at the Supreme Court unlike previous AGFs. It was more than a stab at the back of judiciary when he disclosed on November 29, 2016 that he authorised the raid on the homes of judges on October 9, 2016 and their subsequent arrest by the DSS. Malami made the revelation when he finally appeared before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the invasion of property and arrest of persons for reasons outside the general duties of the DSS.

The endless presidency-National Assembly conflict is President Buhari’s greatest albatross, seeing to yearly budgets being passed between May and July. Roads have further degraded in the country under APC ruling, for instant, it takes two hours to drive from Itakpe Junction to Okene for a distance of less than 5km, while internal roads within Okene town are better seen than imagined. No electricity, no pipe borne water just as school dropouts have snowballed due to none payment of salaries for upward of 24 months.
The House of Representatives have advised President Buhari to use the recovered $321m Abacha loot to revamp Ajaokuta Steel Company, after Malami was ‘’stopped’’ from paying $17m out of it to Oladipo Okpeseyi (SAN) and Temitope Isaac Adebayo, the two lawyers he claimed he hired to recover the fund; same job a Swiss Lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, was engaged and paid upfront in 1999 to do and he did. Curiously, the Federal Government have in the widest economic imagination is said to be sharing this money ‘’to empower’’ some people, which many say is euphemism for re-looting.
Nobody can doubt President Buhari’s intention and determination to put the country on good pedestal, rid the country of corruption and insurgencies, but many Nigerians believe that his aides and lieutenants are merely taking advantages of his health challenges to undo the country. Many will easily praise him for measures adopted to crush Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Niger-Delta Avengers or Militants which were set to tear unity and economy of the country into pieces respectively. Boko Haram insurgents were curtailed to some extents, though exploits of these insurgents in recent time are about robbing off the gains secured by the military two to three years back. But his military swift actions to rid their erstwhile occupations of some territories will continue to deserve praises, notwithstanding that invading herdsmen in the middle belt of the country were not summarily tackled.
On Sunday October 7, 2018, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, emerged as the PDP Presidential Flag bearer in the 2019 elections.
Atiku scored 1,532 votes to defeat 11 other contestants including Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who scored 693 votes and Senate President, Bukola Saraki who placed third with 317 votes.
Rabiu Kwankwaso polled 158 votes, Ibrahim Dankwambo (111 votes), Sule Lamido (96 votes), Ahmed Makarfi (74 votes), Tanimu Turaki (65 votes), Attahiru Bafarawa (48 votes), David Mark (35 votes), Jonah Jang (19 votes), Datti Ahmed (05 votes).

The Chief Returning Officer at the convention and Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, declared Atiku as the winner after the votes were counted at the Adokiye Amiesemeka stadium, the venue of the PDP National Convention in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. A day before then, the ruling APC confirmed Buhari as its candidate at a non-competitive convention in Abuja,
Atiku, a retired deputy director of Nigeria Customs and vice president between 1999 and 2007 was born on 25 November 1946 to a Fulani trader and farmer Garba Abubakar, and his second wife, Aisha Kande, in Jada village of Adamawa State. The story has it that Atiku did not start school until at the age of eight because his father opposed western education. When his not going to school was noticed, his father was arrested and jailed until he paid a fine. Consequently, Atiku got registered into Jada Primary School, and after his primary school, he was admitted into Adamawa Provincial Secondary School Yola in the year 1960. He later finished his secondary school in 1965 after he made grade three in the West African School Certificate Examination. Atiku then proceeded to Nigerian Police College, Kaduna. He left the college for a position as tax officer in the Regional Ministry of Finance. Later he got admission to study at the School of Hygiene Kano in 1966. In 1967, he graduated with a Diploma. That same year, Atiku was admitted for a Law Diploma at Ahmadu Bello University on a scholarship. He graduated in 1969 and got employed by Nigeria Customs Service that same year.
However, he was married five times, but he divorced one of his wives, Ladi. He has 26 children from all five women. Atiku has expressed his desire to become the President of Nigeria. He ran for presidency in 1992, 2006-2007, and 2011, 2015; until he now secured ticket to run for it under the PDP in 2019.
It is a well known fact that Atiku is highly involved in business just as in politics. He is estimated to worth over $1.6 billion. But he began his business life while in Customs through a loan of N31,000 he obtained in 1974 to build a house for rent in Yola.

In 1981 he moved into agriculture, acquiring 2,500 hectares of land near Yola to start a maize and cotton farm. The business fell on hard times and closed in 1986. He then ventured into trading, buying and selling truckloads of rice, flour and sugar. His most important business move came while he was a Customs Officer at the Apapa Ports. Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian businessman in Nigeria, invited him to set up Nigeria Container Services (NICOTES), a logistics company operating within the Ports. NICOTES would go on to provide immense wealth to Atiku. The company was later known as Intels, and it is an oil servicing business that has extensive operations inside and outside of Nigeria. Nevertheless, along with large sums of money, Atiku’s involvement in the creation of NICOTES/Intels has also brought various accusations of money laundering and conflict of interest. But as one can observe, not much has come out of those allegations, and Atiku is still one of the wealthiest people in Nigeria.
As the saying goes, behind every great fortune, there is a great crime; or behind a big wealth is a big crime, as the Russians will want to put it.
Atiku was the subject of a probe 10 years ago, by a U.S. Senate Permanent sub-committee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Carl Levin. The probe was motivated by U.S. government concern about corruption in the Third World and its corrosive effects on the development of honest government, democratic principles, and the rule of law.
“It is also blamed for distorting markets, deterring investment, deepening poverty, undermining international aid efforts, and fostering crime. Some have drawn connections between corruption, failed states, and terrorism. Corruption also continues to be a massive problem. The World Bank has estimated that $1 trillion in bribes alone exchange hands worldwide each year,” the committee noted in its bulky report.
Abubakar was not the only foreign Politically Exposed Person (PEP) probed by the committee. He had company in Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, now the 48-year-old son of Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mbasogo, the President of Equatorial Guinea (EG), late President of Gabon, Omar Bongo and three Angolan PEP accounts, involving an Angolan arms dealer, an Angolan government official, and a small Angolan private bank.

The committee submitted its report on 4, February, 2010, three years after Atiku left office. The report unveiled violations of U.S. laws by Atiku and his fourth wife, Jennifer Douglas, now Jamila Atiku. It also included revelations about Siemens bribe paid into one of the accounts. The report of the Committee indicted Atiku as being responsible for the laundering of over $40 million into the United States illegally.
Of the $40 million in suspect funds, $25 million was wire transferred by offshore corporations into more than 30 U.S. bank accounts opened by Ms. Douglas, primarily by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., LetsGo Ltd. Inc., and Sima Holding Ltd. In a 2008 civil complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Ms. Douglas received over $2 million in bribe payments in 2001 and 2002, from Siemens AG, a major German corporation. While Ms. Douglas denies wrongdoing, Siemens has already pleaded guilty to U.S. criminal charges and settled civil charges related to bribery and told the sub-committee that it sent the payments to one of her U.S. accounts. In 2007, Mr. Abubakar was the subject of corruption allegations in Nigeria related to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund.
Atiku said in an interview with Dele Momodu which was published in The Boss Newspaper in December 2017, that the U.S. authorities have nothing against him. This is just as Atiku alleged that President Buhari was banned from entering the United States for 15 years before he became president because Americans had reservations about his religious views. “For about 15 years, Buhari could not enter America on account of religious considerations,” Atiku said.

But the Presidency in a swift reaction then denied the allegation, saying that President Buhari was never barred from entering the US.
Atiku however said he said he was able to visit Europe regularly without being arrested for onward extradition to the U.S., adding that if Nigerians elect him president, he would be allowed into the United States just like President Buhari and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both of whom are now being accorded red carpet treatments in the U.S. after becoming leaders of their respective countries.
However, the Special Adviser on media and publicity to the President Femi Adesina in a statement said that such comment from the former Vice President was a concoction being passed off as truth.
Meanwhile, Atiku has chosen former Anambra state governor, Peter Obi, known for fiscal discipline, infrastructural development economic reform as his running mate. Many people especially of south eastern extractions said he has sticky hands, meaning not generous unlike Atiku who is a philanthropist.
What seems to be at stake in Nigeria is the prevalence of hunger, high cost of food items, high exchange rate and bad roads all over the country.
According to one Suleiman Onuche, ‘’the ruling government should better look for what to say other than Atiku’s corruption baggage because Nigerians are prepared to look the other way with him if he has what it takes to provide food for their drained stomachs’’.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/10/will-candidates-antecedents-count-at.html