Gbawe:

My brother , you are most certainly welcomed . My uncle is now an ACN senator . He never had to prostrate for Tinubu. He did not take any oath and he was certainly not coerced into pledging blind allegiance to Tinubu. Folks can continue to spread their horror stories that is not at all based on facts . Fola Adeola attested to this when he said that no one is focused on Tinubu at ACN meetings .

I just don't understand how we Nigerian constantly and  regularly allude to a need to see Jesus-like virtues in our administrators when , for now , our Nation is far from a testimony to the most desirable virtues to be found in humanity. We have to manage what we have , currently, to gain progress and development . It is those who pragmatically understand that concept who contribute to our march towards a brighter future.

Jarus:

God sparing our lives, I'm also consulting on where I can come in in Kwara politics, possibly in 2015 by God's grace. I may pick AC membership form anytime from now

ekt_bear:

CPC will be dead within 4 years. Buhari is not a planner or nurturer. If he has a fruit tree outside of his house, it has probably withered away due to neglect

PapaBrowne:

@OP
You can look at it from another angle. What if Ribadu was in this elections all the while just to scuttle Buhari's chances. For a job well done, he gets a top position in the Jonathan Government. He uses that position to build political capital and popular support in preparedness for 2015. He enters 2015 with more visibilty and political experience garnered from running in 2011. That to me is strategic thinking and I bet you it would serve him better than working in a Buhari party.
I also believe that was also Shekarau's strategy- use these elections to prevent a Buhari victory and garber enough exposure for 2015.

As per Tinubu, I always used to say it that since sometime in 2009, Tinubu was in the same ship with Obasanjo. They met sometime in that period.
They had one common goal- breaking the northern hegemony!! These two men are the greatest political strategists in Nigeria currently and they did a great job in pulling the rug of the northern hegemony!!
The Ekiti and Osun state victories were just trade-offs. Forget all those arguments between Katsina Alu and Salami.

13volts:

Why can't we let go without these violence.
Why can't we be like other Muslims.
Our Muslim brothers in northern Ghana, Cameroon and other African state.
I thank god this is the last time buhari will ever present himself for election. With is retirement no any other northern politician from the north will generate such emotion and crowd.
[b]I also thank god most of the victims were pdp barons, who are also part of the problem.[/b]Note. I may regret my tribe but not my religion which shud be dis associated with this mayhem.

Kobojunkie:


That explains a whole lot !!!

OAM4J:

I really desire the bold but I doubt there will be any serious merger among the Northern and Southern progressives anytime soon. Not the way ACN is presently structured and managed by Tinubu. I agree he is a necessary evil for the emancipation of the SW. But imagine a situation where your political ambition in ACN is only feasible if Tinubu and not majority of the party members approves it. Also I doubt other progressives from other zones will want to touch ACN as it is. Not until it is clear ACN does not stand for Asiwaju Congress of Nigeria. Mind you I am form Lagos SW.

And may I remind you that the dream of one progressive party did not start in December 2010. What happened to all the merger talks/meetings? Why was it not possible for Falae, Buhari, Bafarawa, Utomi and Tunubu to agree to work together? How are we sure the same reasons will not stop any future merger talk? IMO, the personal interests of  some of the key progressives members still override our collective national interest. I wish am wrong but I see the status quo remaining for a long while.

I wish you and lagosboy well in your political career and I hope with time we will get to know each other better.

nulldev:


Well said Gbawe, I really hope he sticks with ACN and remains visible in the opposition and starts building towards 2015 now rather than wait till 2014. I honestly think CPC will go the way of ANPP and cease to be relevant within a decade so no point joining a party that is no more than the Buhari presidential ambition vehicle with no shortage of the criminals that he is supposedly running away from.

I believe more than any alliance, a lot of the general populace saw this as a North v South election, hell my parents voted GEJ because they believe it will be some sort of final blow on northern domination. I assumed this line of thinking was isolated but when I actually got to Lagos last week it was pretty apparent how it was going to go. Ribadu is not part of the generation of northerners that helped to build that impression and making a clean break from the people of that era will be a much better decision.

Gbawe:


I am with you on that one and that is why I wrote above that :
Much as I like and respect Buhari , what I write above was his weakness IMO . If Ribadu, Fashola, El Rufai and other progressives can join hands to practice modern and cutting edge opposition politics then the PDP , if they continue to mess up , will surely go in 2015 . Jonathan won because many saw him as a good guy in a bad Party. 4 years of "business as usual" leadership from GEJ make it easy for him to be dismissed if the opposition has not been asleep and disunited . Folks will drop the good man in a bad Party illusion with 4 years of poor leadership from GEJ.

Man mi , you are from the SW . Why not join us in the ACN? I plan to run for office in 2015 myself . I accept some of your criticism of the ACN but it is the best platform in the SW right now and it can be made better if progressive folks continue to strengthen the ideological backbone of the Party.

Gbawe:

Indeed. Lagosboy himself will confess I have told him the same thing many times . There are no hard and fast rules that condemn candidates permanently in the minds of most voters. Otherwise , for example, we will see folks unanimously rejecting GEJ for his role in the Teslim Folarin murder acquittal . it is just unwise to make empirically sweeping statements about Nigerian politics especially concerning what signifies future potentials and prospects . I think , in reality , the North will realise that the game has changed forever and they need folks like Ribadu and El Rufai , more than ever , rather than continue backing and promoting tainted candidates who are simply a hard sell outside the North. You are correct , IMO, that the future is bright for Ribadu. By virtue of how all the old boys are now gone and with how Ribadu has made a brave foray into highest level politics , allied with how he is seen as progressive, he may be now be highly treasured by a North that must change its approach to suit the rest of Nigeria rather than the other way round .

Gbawe:

My brother , that is why folks like us say to you that , for now , things are what they are . If you think about it , events made IBB, OBJ, Buhari, Atiku and some others visible . They have remained in our collective psyche as top echelon politicians . That is the category Ribadu has entered because the 'old boys' (Buhari, IBB, OBJ, Danjuma et al) now have no choice but to pass the mantle on .

Despite all that has happened do you think Buhari will not consider Ribadu if he has to support a Northern candidate in 2015 if the choices are Saraki, Ribadu , Sambo , Yuguda, Babangida Aliyu et al ? All the 'old boys'  need successors. Ribadu , though new to politics , has done well IMO . The North should have learnt its lesson from the victory of GEJ. They cannot keep treating the rest of Nigeria with arrogance . If elections are free and fair then the North may struggle unless they start moving away from candidate like "Sharia" Yerima to put everything behind folks like Ribadu who are liked and marketable across the entire country. Many give various reasons for not voting Ribadu but how many state he is "hardcore" , "a fundamentalist" or accuse him of wanting to "Islamise Nigeria" ? For how things stand today . The North needs Ribadu if election rigging is now behind us .  He only needs to keep doing good and learning from his mistakes and a bright future beckons .

monkeyleg:

Response from Buhari on his Facebook page

We condemn ANY and EVERY form of violence. Buhari lost elections in 2003 and 2007 and went to court. He WILL NEVER resort to violence. We ask that all our supporters and all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law abiding citizens of Nigeria.

mbulela:

In Nigeria?
are you kidding me?

Gbawe:

The point is that this thread is really emotional rather than logical , IMO , given what we know about Nigeria . What is an "expensive gamble"? It is only in Nigeria we speak as if folks are worse off because they stood up to be counted and nobly presented themselves as candidates for top office . No one would bother to contest an election if they think that they will lose everything if unsuccessful .

Others have bounced back from far worse . I really don't see the point of this thread . The elections has shown how simple Nigerians are . Anyone who thinks Ribadu is now 'damaged goods' that cannot be marketed for greater potency in future is simply not conversant with what obtains in Nigeria. Do some of us know the history of men like david Mark? Is David Mark , today , not the third most powerful Nigerian alive? This election should have humbled some of us into realising that our pontification is for each other and not necessarily in line with the thinking of average Nigerians .

Some buhari fans , for example, bragged that the Buhari tsunami will hit the SW . What happened in reality? Abeg let us stop the arrogance . It has been proven that most of us are simply elitist in thinking with no clue of the mindset of those on the ground . Anyone who thinks Ribadu , while still young , cannot be made into the next 'hottest thing' is simply not talking about Nigeria. What is it that Jonathan has not done wrong ? Depleted ECA, Teslim Folarin, Ogun impeachment debacle, Anenih et al as campaign manager , death of halliburton trial, disappearance of IBB's indictment , etc , etc yet Nigerians voted for him well . Abeg Ribadu will be alright Ojare .

Timehin:

I've said it b4 that Ribadu is a political neöphyte and a tool in tinubus hand cos his ambition made him blind to realities. On election day i mentioned on a thread that tinubu made a deal with powers dat be in abuja cos how do we explain a situation where some ACN agents were told to vote PDP against their own candidate? Why d complaint of a damaged candidacy from Ribadu? Why is Bisi Akande so eager to damage the alliace b4 election by talking with both sides of the mouth at the press conference in abuja? Ribadu should wakeup regarding his political future or else he'l always be tied to tinubus apron to be used at will just like whats presently happening at the seat of power - Alausa lagos.

Nigeria sai Buhari wallahi. God purnish all pdp dia. We dnt hav biz wit any innocient persons. We knw our targets. Wallahi General will never stop us. We r d 1 cheated nt General. Allah ya tsinewa Jonadan, sambo, yakowa, bala, pastor nyako, pastor shema, pastor aliu,pastor dakin gari,pastor talban,ibb,ciroma,atiku,ali gusau,azazi,pastor lamido, shaidanu jang, pastor idris, naughty person sani danger and e.t.c. your lives is in our hand by God grace. your days r all numbered.

johnie:

And Alao Akala's time is up this weekend unless Ajimobi and Ladoja allow what happened to PDP in Ogun State last week (i.e Otedola a la Agbalajobi-Sarumi) happen in Oyo.

Could that be why they made him commissioner for Youths and social development?

Gbawe:



I only say buhari is the biggest loser because his last chance of becoming a democratic President is gone. Not so for Ribadu . The integrity you claim Ribadu has lost is only applicable to erudite voters like yourself . We should all now be convinced that those things ultimately mean nothing to the electorate if we look at all GEJ has done yet he still managed to win convincingly . Ribadu should simply add political astuteness to his zeal and he will be okay .

johnie:

El-rufai, maybe he learnt his politics lessons when he was FCT or maybe after, to me seems to have gained huge political capital from what has just happened.

If you remember, El-Rufai (like Ribadu who he shared an office with EFCC started and also shared ideologies with) was very brash in his early days at BPE and later the FCT. Remember the spat he had with Ibrahim Mantu and co and how we went about things at the FCT? He seems to have learnt to be more calculative. He had the option of supporting Ribadu or een going against him but he chose to bid his time probably acknowledging that the time was not yet ripe for him or Ribadu.


I remember Prince Ademola Adeniji Adele who at the time he was Chairman of Lagos Island Local governement was considered by many next in line to the governorship position of Lagos. That was during the SDP/NRC days. He was a strong member of the SDP and strong backer of MKO Abiola during the June 12 debacle.

He was locked up with the likes of Polycarp Nwite, Ameh Ebute (Senate President) and other "NADECO" members while the likes of Tinubu managed to escape abroad.

By the time, the dust on June 12 had settled and Abacha organised his five fingers of the same leprous hand (political parties), Adele joined one of them and thought he could cash some of the political capital he had earned during the SDP/NADECO days.

Alas, this drew the ire of the NADECO camp who saw him and treated him as a traitor.

Of course, the Abacha adventure fell through and inflicted further injury of Adele's political capital.

By the time "democracy" returned in 1998-1999, Adele was like an orphan who unsuccessfully tried to re-integrate himself into the progressive camp.

It took him a while to find his balance and the best he could manage was a commisioner (for sports and youths development) position under Tinubu's godson, Fashola.

1. Ribadu will find it difficult to re-enter the northern political space as a hero where he would be seen as having betrayed the cult-hero-Buhari.
2. He would find it difficult to shake off the stigma of associating with Tinubu in trying to find space among young anti-corruption elements.
3. He would be seen as being politically naive, a pawn in the hands of Tinubu and/or Obasanjo (depending on how you look at it), as events unfold.

El-rufai on the other had would be seen by the northern elements as a succssor to Buhari. He has always potrayed himself as a nationalist lways associating wih people from the south freely and even commending people like Fashola openly even though he did similar things to what Fashola is doing now when he was in charge of the FCT.


The points highlighted about Buhari are very right. He indeed is a man of high moral principles but in democratic politics, it is very difficult to succeed[b] purely [/b] on that ground.

Gbawe:

The point is that many do not think like you and me . They are not bothered by considerations that should be very troubling . It is highly disturbing to me that Jonathan possibly helped a man escape a murder charge just so he can win an election . Others , from what we have seen , clearly do not care about that . The idiosyncracies of the Nigerian voter , that defies logic , needs a book of its own . Nothing happened here Ribadu himself cannot reverse with deliberate and measured efforts . Many villians , with reputations me and you think is totally trashed, are celebrated highly across Nigeria. Is Andy Ubah now not a Senator when he has done enough , along with his brother, to be forever condemned to the political wilderness ? Abeg it is Nigerian logic-defying politics we are still talking about here . Lets never forget that .

Atiku too was "finished" yet he ended up consensus candidate against GEJ !!!!! Give it 2 months and everyone would have moved on . Ribadu is undoubtedly one of the good guys . If guys like Andy Ubah can 're-invent ' themselves I certainly don't see why anyone would hastily write off Ribadu . The reality on the ground always rubbishes the lofty idealism of the most educated Nigerians .

Jarus:

Gbawe, I beg to disagree. Ribadu is not only a loser, he also dabbled into expensive gamble, as rightly put by Lagosboy.

Ribadu came out of this election with a drastically dropped integrity rating.
The respect he commanded before this sojourn greatly fell.

One, Ribadu's association with Tinubu, after calling him a corrupt man of international dimension, for which he struggled to defend, dented his image.

Two, his exoneration of Patience Jonathan, with all available documentary evidences to show he once talked about her money laundering charge, greatly diminished his morality standing.

Three - although I personally don't believe this - not a few people believe he was planted by PDP to give way for Jonathan presidency.

As for Buhari, he is not a loser. He personally stood to gain anything. He has been there before. With less than 1% of Jonathan's campaign expenditure and less than 50% of Ribadu's campaign expenditure, he floored Ribadu and gave Buhari a run for his billion Naira. His rating among the public increase as this campaign made many people know much about him as well as his much talked-about integrity.

I personally don't have problem with Ribadu and I still have sympathy with ACN more than any other party, but I have enough reasons to believe Tinubu taught Ribadu politics 101.

Jarus:

I agree one has to stoop to conquer, and it is plausible to say Ribadu was only stooping to conquer but there was a better way he could have done.

For example, apart from rigging and GEJ's billion naira inducements, one factor that contributed to Buhari's loss was his reluctance to 'stoop to conquer'. It was very clear that Tinubu wanted to be his VP, but he was hesitant to work with Tinubu. Also, he never endorsed Mohammed Abacha. Also, until IBB and co went to meet him in the dying minutes, he was hesitant to have anything to do with them.

These are ways to play your game without having to lose what you are known for. If he had accepted Tinubu, he would surely have done better than this, but he was hesitant to jettison his principle. He lost gracefully.

auwal87:

I can confirm from reliable source that Emir's palace south entrance (Kofar kudu) too is burnt down.

I can also confirm from reliable source that Galadiman Kano's house, and Ghali Na'abba's house, and Aminu Wali's house were also burnt down.

Gbawe:

@Lagosboy.

Clearly you are a bright chap but your emotion always clouds your reasoning . You shouted that you would be happy for Tinubu to be "disgraced" through the rejection of his wife at the polls. What transpired in reality? Ribadu will be fine . Buhari , as I told you before , has turned out to be the biggest loser. It really is that simple. No spin can destroy fact and sound logic .

Jarus:

I don't have any problem with it. I only hope his Niger Delta brothers will no longer claim that their money is being used to develop other parts of the country only, when they realized that N250 billi[/b]on has been pumped by their son into campaign.