The PDP primaries have come and gone, and against all permutations especially from APC and their supporters, it went smoothly and democratically with Atiku coming tops. I have always warned that Atiku was the best candidate among all the contestants who has what it takes to win buhari and now, it’s obvious that PDP as a party also knew this fact which made majority of the delegates to vote for him.
Now that the primaries are over, the next big challenge that could make or Mar Atiku’s chances in the general elections is who he chooses as running mate which forms the fulcrum of this post.
The best person that could be a game changer for Atiku as a running mate is no other than NGOZI OKONJO IWEALA and here are my reasons:
Atiku Abubakar
1. Her international connections; today, NOI is probably Nigeria’s most influential personality both in diplomatic circles and the international business community. She will easily galvanize the international community on the side of Atiku and her presence will give credibility and decency to Atiku. Also, unknown to many Nigerians, Washington and London to a large extent, influences what happens in our local politics and already, they are fed up with buhari and would certainly throw their weight behind Atiku/IWEALA.
2. Gender; being a woman, lots of Nigerian women, including Aisha Buhari, feminists, Northerners and Southerners would definitely support her since it’s the first time since independence when a woman is being giving the opportunity to be a vice president. It would also add a feminine touch to the candidacy of Atiku and would hold more emotional ground to many Nigerians than Osinbajo being a pastor.
3. Nigeria’s alarming debt profile; Nigeria was almost grounded by a debilitating debt profile during the Obasanjo era, which was largely an accumulation of the locust years the military looted the country dry while stashing same monies abroad. NOI came on board and was instrumental in negotiating Nigeria’s debt cancellation. Unfortunately, buhari has thrown the country back into debt crisis and it seems to be getting worse by the day. Maybe, NOI can still help to bail Nigeria out again!
4. Her Origin; NOI is Igbo from Delta state which is in SD but is married to a man from Abia state in the SE. This singular fact alone means she has one leg in both regions SE/SS, where she is equally very popular and would easily get both regions to vote en bloc for PDP. Some people are saying that Secondus who is PDP chairman is from the SS hence NOI won’t be accepted. Now, that ain’t constitutional. SE Igbos won’t mind such sentiment (in fact they would love it).
5. The Nigerian business community would support her; all the captain’s of industry don’t look at politics through tribal lens, rather they look at candidates who would make the environment more conducive for them. They would always go with those with better prospects of formulating policies that would grow the economy more than anything else. Now, consider these options, Buhari/Osinbajo and Atiku/Iweala I can bet with a million dollars that not only will these rich and influential people in business support the latter, they would even spend their own money to make sure that Atiku/Iweala wins.
6. Her Ethnicity; unlike some people that have been saying Atiku should pick a SW VP, I always wonder where the wisdom is on such permutation. Atiku would only be shooting himself on the leg if he does that and here is the reason. While SE/SS will certainly give a block vote when Iweala (or any other credible Igbo candidate is used as VP to Atiku, same can’t be said of SW. Those who are listening to Tinubu will always vote for Buhari even if Atiku uses Angel Michael or even Adegboye as VP, now this leaves the neutrals, the frustrated, and those who are altruistic and these ones will definitely vote for Atiku/Iweala. So, where is the purported advantage of using a Yoruba VP?? It would even work in the reverse, because if Atiku shuns the SE/SS to pick a Yoruba candidate; two things will happen, there would be unprecedented voter apathy in these two regions because IPOB will cash in on it to make a killing. Secondly, APC will launch a propaganda on how they would hand over to the Igbo after Buhari’s term unlike PDP that would not only want to rule for 8 years but also hand over to the Yoruba candidate afterwards, these propaganda although lies as it is would gain ground and many of those who may decide to vote would rather vote for Buhari than Atiku who they feel betrayed them.
7. Voting strength of the ethnicities; a lot has been said on how the SE has just 5 states and has the least regional voting strength etc. However, those that belong to this school of thought are either ignorant or being mischievous. Now, remove Lagos from SW total votes and compare the remaining 5 states with SE 5 states. Lagos as we all know, has as many Igbos as there are Yorubas, so hiding behind Lagos figures to throw such shades is laughable. Also, even if Atiku decides to pick a SW VP, is there any credible person left who has not joined the Tinubu bandwagon or will it
