Newbreed vs old brigade: Who faces Buhari in 2019?

…Only young PDP presidential candidate can reclaim Aso Rock’
…’We need experienced candidate to defeat incumbent President’
…No, delegates will determine our candidate – PDP spokesman
The tone for real politicking ahead of the presidential contest among others in the 2019 general election was no doubt set by the subtle declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari a fortnight ago at the All Progressive Congress (APC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

His declaration has indeed set a pace and direction for other parties, most especially the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The party ostensibly lost power in 2015 partly because Nigerians were tired of its mismanaging the nation’s economy and largely to the emergence of Buhari who was massively voted for with the hope of revamping the nation that was then on the brink as a result of what Nigerians condemned as PDP maladministration.

Barely three years into the Buhari administration, the APC government is under serious criticism for failing to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people, coupled with the frightening spate of insecurity, economic hardship and alleged nepotism.

This has thrown the 2019 race open to political parties to try to ride on the back of these identified issues by fielding a presidential candidate who will be acceptable to Nigerians as President Buhari is the man to beat.

The dilemma of the PDP is how to latch unto this opportunity by shopping for and fielding a presidential candidate that can bring the party back to power and reclaim Aso Rock.

Before now, many Nigerians have been rooting for a generational shift in the nation’s leadership, calling for younger leaders with fresh ideas capable of transforming the country.

Former presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, whose opinions are respected across the land, have at different occasions advised President Buhari not to seek re-election but pave way for a ‘digitalised’ president come 2019.

The question on the lips of every member of the PDP and keen watchers of Nigeria body polity is ‘who will the party present to confront Buhari, a newbreed or an old brigade?

A chieftain and member of the party’s national executive told The Daily Times that only young PDP presidential candidate will reclaim Aso Rock.

To him, the party should not deviate from the yearnings of majority of Nigerians for a youthful president.

The party chieftain, who spoke in confidence, said: “There is no dearth of young, versatile, enterprising, resourceful and educated persons in the PDP that are worthy of being presented as the presidential candidate of our party. In fact, we have many of them, it is only left for the party leadership to look inward and allow the qualified but interested among them contest for the party’s ticket”.

Findings by The Daily Times revealed that the party apparently not unaware of this expectation has been tinkering with names of a few individuals it may likely tussle for the coveted seat.

Prominent among those that are young are the incumbent governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo and Dr. Datti Baba Ahmed, a one- time senator and owner and pro-chancellor of the Base University, Abuja.

Dankwambo’s preference by some members and certain blocs within the party might be due to his sterling performance as governor and his profound economic and financial management skills that have been brought to bear in Gombe. He was recently adjudged the best performing governor in the northern part of the country.

The Daily Times authoritatively gathered that dragging the Gombe State governor into the race is currently unsettling some people within the party and certain permutations are definitely going to change. It was learnt that solidly behind Dankwambo are most PDP governors, a very powerful organ of the party.

The PDP governors were said to have started consultations on his behalf and are trying to convince other organs of PDP why the Dankwambo can bring the party back to power come 2019. They believe that the party could not have hoped for a better opportunity and time to return to power than now.

Dankwambo, it is being canvassed, is considered as performers in Gombe State and has the academic ability and above all have age on his side.

Some of the party chieftains believe that Dankwambo, a man of proven record of achievements and who has never had any appointment with any of the anti-corruption agencies, can get the votes of Nigerians in any presidential poll.

In tune with the widespread yearnings for younger leaders, Dankwambo who will be 57 next year, is a relatively young man, he is also roundly experienced, exposed and educated.

He is educated to the level of PhD and a member of seven professional bodies. His career achievements in the private and public sectors is another major attribute that cut him out as the ideal presidential candidate for the PDP.

A shrewd accountant, he began his career at the Coopers and Lybrand International, now PriceWaterHouseCoopers, as a chartered accountant from 1985 to 1988.

It is on record that he became a chartered accountant at a record time of one year after his graduation from the university.

He later joined the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1988 and worked with the apex bank until 1999 when then Governor Abubakar Habu Hashidu appointed him as the Accountant General of Gombe State.

He was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Accountant General of the Federation in 2005. During his tenure, he introduced the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Central payment of salaries of staff in all the ministries, departments and agencies using an automated system was also introduced.

He was part of the revolution in the public sector that brought e-payment system. He also ensured that the financial statements of the federal government which were in arrears were brought up to date, prepared, audited and published before he left office.

Dankwambo completed the Treasury House, the magnificent edifices of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

The solid credentials Dankwambo has earned in the public and private sectors will obviously speak for him in the contest for the PDP presidential ticket.

Another youthful presidential hopeful, Senator Datti Baba Ahmed, is a senior party member from Kaduna State who won an election into the House of Representatives in 2003 where he served a term.

But in 2011 he was elected a Senator on the platform of the Congress For Progressive Change (CPC) and defeated a. two-time Kaduna governor and immediate past acting National Chairman of PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

Until his recent defection to the PDP, Datti was prominent and staunch mobiliser in Kaduna State and he command a sizeable number of followers.

Datti Baba Ahmed is set to reap from the fallout of the difficulty likely to be encountered by the party in picking between the old hands jostling for the ticket.

He is a technocrat, young and seemingly vibrant, maybe suitable for the leadership of the party to settle for.

A well- read individual, Datti holds two masters degrees, and established the Baze University with two other companies, an institution that employs over 600 people from every state of Nigeria.

Now at 48, Sen Datti is a symbolic epitome of modest successful and exemplary life, a living proof that Nigeria can have a better future, as he represents the ideal critical opportunity for availing Nigeria the right leader.

He believes Presidency is a transformative engine to promote good and suppress evil for the economic prosperity, social security, and political stability of Nigeria as he now solemnly presents himself for 2019 Presidential Election to achieve the desired noble objectives.

He is simply the champion of the new generation to Fix Nigeria. His clear focus are Security, Economy and Education (SEE)

He is a politician without corrupt charge hanging on his neck and may perfectly fits into PDP’s quest for a new breed presidential candidate.

The credentials of both Dakwambo and Datti though look okay and may likely boost the electoral fortune of the party as Nigerians want a young and vibrant president.

But there is a second opinion that the party needs experienced candidate to defeat the ruling APC.

This school of thought believes that to defeat President Buhari, the party needs an experienced candidate who has traversed the political terrain of the country with years of experience across political divides.

During last week’s emergency NEC meeting of the party, The Daily Times’ attempt at speaking with one of the presidential hopefuls was not successful but one of his aides offered to speak on condition of anonymity.

The aide, who is also an experienced politician, having served his state in the North West as a deputy speaker, said in politics, there is nothing compared with experience.

He was emphatic in saying that “the PDP should not be freaked by the generation shift syndrome.

According to him, “fielding an inexperienced candidate against President Buhari will be the greatest mistake for our party. If we are sincere and ready to take back power from the APC, we need someone who has been on the political turf for a while, someone who has electoral value, someone who has base and someone that has political machinery, followers and financial power”.

He said the party is right on course by zoning its presidential position to the North. He, however, stressed that the party did not need just a northerner but a northerner that is well known across the three zones of the north.

He said, “You are a journalist and you should know some facts about Nigerian politics. Tell me which young person we can put forward as our candidate who can be beat the experience of politicians like Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso had it been he is still in our party, Ahmed Makarfi or Sule Lamido?

“What is on ground as far as 2019 is concerned is for us as a party to put our act together and let one of these experienced persons that have interest in the presidency emerge in a free and fair primary contest and the others will support whoever emerge”.

Running through the list of the old brigades interested in the race, it is only the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that has made his intention known to party members.

He has not betrayed his intention for returning to the party shortly before last December’s elective national convention. The Turaki Adamawa wants to seek the PDP platform to realise his long term ambition of becoming president.

During his political career, Atiku Abubakar has jumped a lot between different parties. He was a member of the PDP, the ACN and the APC, the latter of which he helped create and now back in the PDP.

He ran for presidency in 1992, 2006-2007, 2011, and 2015. In addition to that, Abubakar is planning to run in 2019.

Atiku, by every standard, could be said to be qualified and a preferable candidate during the dark days when impunity and imposition of candidates was the order of the day in the party.

Now, the party’s leadership has resolved to play by the game, to allow fairness, equity and justice in giving every aspirant equal opportunity through impartial primaries.

Atiku Abubakar is a successful businessman and a philanthropist of note. Today, he remains a political enigma who has occupied the Nigerian political landscape like a colossus. Atiku remains the topic for discussions in political circle.

He undoubtedly has one of the largest political followers in the country, he is called “the political bridge builder”.

Before seriously going into politics and business, the 72-year-old Atiku Abubakar worked for the Nigeria Customs Service. He spent 20 years on the job and achieved the second highest rank in the Service’s hierarchy.

Atiku’s first foray into politics was in the early 1980s, when he worked behind-the-scenes on the governorship campaign of BamangaTukur, who at that time was managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority.

He canvassed for votes on behalf of Tukur, and also donated to the campaign. Towards the end of his Customs career, he met the late Gen Shehu MusaYar’Adua, who had been second-in-command of the military government that ruled Nigeria between 1976 and 1979.

Atiku was drawn by Yar’Adua into the political meetings that were now happening regularly in Yar’Adua’s Lagos home. In 1989, Atiku was elected a National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Front of Nigeria, the political association led by Yar’Adua, to participate in the transition programme initiated by the former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida.

Atiku won a seat to represent his constituency at the 1989 Constituent Assembly, set up to decide a new constitution for Nigeria.

The People’s Front was eventually denied registration by the government (none of the groups that applied was registered), and found a place within the Social Democratic Party (SDP) one of the two parties decreed into existence by the regime.

He won the governorship primaries of the then Social Democratic Party in November 1991, but was soon disqualified by government from contesting the election.

With no chance of contesting for the presidency, Yar’Adua decided to push Atiku forward as the focal point of SDP’s ambitions. Atiku came third in the convention primary of the SDP in Jos, Plateau State.

But because the late Chief MKO Abiola, the winner, had won by only about 400 votes, a run-off was put in place to decide the eventual winner.

But Atiku stepped down for Abiola, asking his supporters to cast their votes for him, with an unwritten agreement that Abiola would announce Atiku as his running mate. Abiola won the SDP ticket, and announced Babagana Kingibe, the runner-up, as his running mate.

In 1998 Atiku, launched a bid for the governorship of Adamawa State on the platform of the PDP. He won the December 1998 election, but before he could be sworn-in, he was tapped by the then PDP’s presidential candidate, former Head of State Olusegun Obasanjo, as his vice-presidential candidate. The Obasanjo-Atiku ticket won the 27 February 1999 presidential election with 62.78 percent of the vote.

Considering his wealth of experience, Atiku today remains the aspirant to beat by other presidential hopefuls in the PDP and he has not rested on his oars. He has since re-joining the party been moving round the country, consulting power brokers and opinion leaders selling his ambition and seeking their support.

Aside his old age, his acceptability to few ‘kingmakers’ among whom are is former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, remain a task which must be accomplished by the Turaki Adamawa.

Another old brigade eyeing the presidency is former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido.

When political tsunami was sweeping some leaders back and forth to other parties, this political technocrat remained resolute and did not abandoned the PDP, hence, he is one of the most qualified old hands for the plum job.

Born in 1948 in old.Bamaina, BirninKudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State, the former Foreign Affairs Minister (1999 to 2003) is by every standard an old hand with a depth in politics.

He entered politics as a member of the left-of-center Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) during the defunct Second Republic.

When the former Head of State , the late Gen Sani Abacha announced his plan to return to democracy, Lamido was a founding member of the Social Progressive Party, and was National Secretary of the new party. He was imprisoned in 1998 by Abacha for criticising Abacha’s plan to perpetuate himself in office.

After Abacha’s unexpected death in June 1998, the Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar announced a revised transition timetable and new parties were formed to contest the 1999 elections.

Lamido became a member of the PDP. He ran for governorship election of Jigawa State in the 1999 elections at the start of the Nigerian Fourth Republic, but was narrowly defeated by the All Peoples Party (APP) candidate, Ibrahim Saminu Turaki. But in April 2007, Lamido contested and won the governorship election in Jigawa State.

He no doubt left a legacy of governance in the state. In June 2007, Lamido accused new generation banks of helping state governors to loot their treasuries, and called for tighter regulations.

In July 2007, Lamido announced plans to spend N2 billion in the next six months on education, using the money to rebuild schools and provide basic teaching materials. The state also invested N450million for training teachers teaching core courses in junior secondary schools. He initiated major construction programmes, led by the Dutse Capital Development Authority and the Jigawa State Housing Authority.

In September 2009, Lamido offered to provide free plots of land and basic infrastructure to investors in the tourism and hospitality business in Jigawa State. In December 2009, Lamido announced a plan by which beggars would be given a basic monthly payment to stay off the streets.

In December 2009, it was reported that Obasanjo had started to lobby for Lamido to be the PDP’s vice presidential candidate in the 2011 elections. Lamido ran successfully for re-election on 26 April 2011. He polled 676,307 votes, with runner-up Badaru Abubakar of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) scoring 343,177 votes.

But the party’s quest for an acceptable candidate beyond its confines might be a great challenge for Lamido whose aspiration might suffer a setback considering the alleged corruption charge hanging on his neck.

In 2015, he and his sons were put on trial for alleged embezzling of state funds by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and were briefly jailed for allegedly arranging for contracts to be placed by companies that they controlled. But Lamido has pleaded not guilty to the alleged offence and blamed the development on his enemies.

The immediate past caretaker chairman of the party, Ahmed Makarfi is also been linked with the race but his seriousness is doubtful.
He only made a passing comment to dissuade the party leadership that persuaded Atiku to come back and pick the ticket on a platter of gold. So, except proved otherwise, Makarfi’s aspiration is in doubt.

A different posture was ,however, introduced to the poser by the party’s publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, who said the party has not set any age limit for the presidential ticket, making the contest open for all interested party members. Age limit, he said, is a method of elimination.

Having learnt lessons from mistakes of the past, he said the party will not exclude anyone from the contest but rather will encourage as many as possible.

He said, “Their coming to seek the party’s platform to realise their presidential ambitions is enough attestation that Nigerians are seeing the seriousness in the PDP to wrest power from the incompetent APC.

He added that the PDP has already put in place a guideline to be followed by all members aspiring to occupy one position or the other on the platform of the party.

This, he said, includes a well – structured system of electing its candidates for every post through free, fair and credible primaries.

He said delegates will decide who will emerge as the PDP presidential candidate.

But President Buhari remains the man to beat as he will be eventual sole candidate of the APC.

It may be a herculean task for other parties to overrun Buhari in the 2019 contest, given the considerable level of his personal performance.

No doubt, many Nigerians still believe in Buhari and they are of the opinion that given a second term, he will perfect the good work of rebuilding the nation.

The president was scored above average in the area of economic regeneration and stemming the tide of corruption in public places, while the precarious security challenges may be the greatest undoing of his government.