Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is a well known name in Nigeria’s political cycle. He has been around quite a long time. He contested against MKO Abiola and pulled strings. So he is an old war horse.
The closest he has come to power was during Olusegun Obasanjo, when the Shehu Musa Yaradua power block PDM, was appeased by making him running mate to Obasanjo, the eventual winner of 1999 presidential election.
Ever since then he has been contesting, albeit unsuccessful.
He fought Obasanjo to a standstill and would’ve crashed that government, because believe it or not, he has network. You know he is Jacob Zuma’s man Friday. He helped installed so many senators and governors. Atiku has contacts that so many billionaires are loyal to him, owing by his outings with them when he was custom boss.
Atiku is not new to power play and he understands it very well, but one thing is: He is a HYPOCRITE.
He appears to like PDP and what PDP represents but he has gone against the party in all dimensions. Atiku Abubakar hates PDP.
If there was a strong opposition in 2003, PDP would have lost the presidential election, all thanks to Atiku. He divided the party along regional line and forced his Boss, Obj to literally kneel down to beg him.
It was the crack that Atiku created in PDP that encouraged ANPP to dust Buhari to ride on the northern sentiments to oust PDP, but they failed.
In 2007, Atiku came up against his own party using Action Congress. It was then that Obasanjo called AC, an Aircondition without compressors.
2007 was all northern affairs and he was roundly beaten by the Kastina duo of Yaradua and Buhari.
He returned to PDP afterwards and ran in 2011. Goodluck defeated him and the rest is history.
In 2015, to buttress that Atiku Abubakar hates PDP and he’s only being an opportunist, he rallied some governors and divided the party, despite all overtures. The party is yet to recover from that act of indiscipline.
Secondly, Atiku Abubakar hates The South.
I won’t go deep into telling us his motivations for fighting against Obj, but it’s all has to do with the utopian northern supremacy over south. Atiku has been the wild card of the northern hegemony. While Buhari comes cleans as ethnic and regional champion, Atiku presents himself as liberal northern Muslim. But I tell you, all na wash.
Again, in 2013 December, he had meetings with GEJ where the later promised to handover to him in 2019 but only that he stopped Saraki and co from defecting. Atiku was already made up. He co-opted Amaechi and few Southerners in PDP to make it have a National outlook. The north used him to destabilize the PDP which were tilted to south at the time and left for APC. Watch and see, they will leaving APC, returning to PDP for same reason they left PDP.
We all know how it all went in 2015.
You all know the gentleman agreement of north and south exchange of the seat of the presidency. Naturally, in 2023, it has to be the turn of the south. But check, no other northern politician is bold enough to start early campaign, except Atiku Abubakar. The north, which has rejected him since 2007 is now silent and have started protesting against Buhari.
The next thing you will hear from them is:” Sai Waziri, Sai Atiku, North East is shortchanged in power play, we are ripe for restructuring etc”. But they have forgotten so soon that they told the whole world that Atiku Abubabar is from Cameroon.
Where is the sincerity of Atiku Abubakar when he was the protagonist of Buhari in 2015? I read his musings about our economy: was he not aware that Buhari is a stark illiterate because backing him in 2015?
He has no moral standing to talk about power in 2023 or even criticize this government because, he cannot run away from his shadow.

Asi Kalaru is a public affairs analyst

Atiku is more learned and exposed than Buhari

OK. nice attempt