London and Paris have for the past five days become a political arena of presidential candidates and top stakeholders ahead of the much-anticipated 2023 general election.
Amid political anxiety in their party, four Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have for the past five days relocated to these European cities in hopes of securing a better political deal ahead of the poll.
The governors have since Sunday held a series of meetings with presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi, in London.
The governors also met with former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in the company of former Cross Rivers State governor, Donald Duke.
The PDP governors are Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo, who has been on vacation in France), Dr Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Samuel Ortom (Benue).
They were later joined by their Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintri who is leading the reconciliation team for Atiku.
Although details of the meetings remain sketchy at press time, LEADERSHIP Friday gathered that the PDP governors are negotiating with the presidential candidates who have been wooing them for support ahead of the 2023 general election.
The meeting is also a continuation of meetings held in Nigeria with these presidential candidates.
Wike and his team had insisted on the sack of PDP national chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, as part of the reconciliation process, a call that has been opposed by key pro-Atiku members, like former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido.
Recall that Wike and his team had recently met with Obi and Atiku’s team in Port Harcourt. The Rivers governor had also earlier met with three APC governors, namely Babajide Sanwo-olu (Lagos), Kayode Fayemi Ekiti) and Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo).
Although no pictures of PDP governors meeting with Tinubu in London has emerged, the governors were seen in cozy ambience with Atiku and Obasanjo separately in the European city.
Wike and his team of PDP governors are aggrieved after the Rivers’ governor was overlooked by Atiku for the running mate position after the May 28 primaries of PDP which Wike and other contenders lost to Atiku.
Atiku had ignored a clamour by some party leaders and picked Delta State governor, Sen Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate for the election.
Atiku Cautions BoT Members Over Unguarded Utterances
Setting the tone for the London meeting, Atiku had yesterday called on all PDP stakeholders and his supporters to desist forthwith from making statements capable of compromising the ongoing effort towards further strengthening the party and bringing all its leaders together.
The former vice president made the call through a press statement signed by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, in Abuja yesterday.
According to the statement, “it has become imperative to appeal to all party members, leaders and everyone related to, connected with or associated with the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, to desist from making comments that potentially reduce the optics of PDP’s image as a united political party.
“This appeal becomes necessary in order to call the attention of party leaders and members to the diversionary antics of the ruling All Progressives Congress which, in manufacturing a false impression of division within the PDP, aims to hoodwink the Nigerian public to overlook the monumental failures of the ruling party.
“Today, Nigerians look up to the PDP to lead the charge in ousting the ruling party. This expectation from the people is the reason why the APC is jittery of their impending fall in next year’s general election. It is also the very reason why the ruling party is manipulating the political process to create a sense of division in the PDP.”
Ibe added that that because the APC knows that there is nothing to campaign with from their records of performance in office, it has elected to play the role of the devil’s advocate, by claiming imaginary division withing the PDP.
He therefore urged every true member of the PDP, and anyone who truly wishes the success of the PDP presidential candidate, to not fall for the antics of the APC in making statements that could give credence to the false claim of divisions in the PDP.
According to him, all the leaders of the party, including especially the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and all governors of the PDP are united in working for the victory of the PDP in next year’s general election across board.
“What is at stake in the next year’s election is the future of Nigeria and all leaders and members of the PDP are on the same page in the mission to rescue Nigeria from the stranglehold of the APC,” he said.
Political Foreign Trips: Nigerian Election May Be Manipulated By Western Countries-Experts
Nigerian professionals in international relations have expressed concern about foreign interference in the choice of who becomes Nigeria’s president in 2023 following the trend by Nigerian politicians to travel abroad to hold political meetings.
The nation’s media landscape was on Wednesday awash with news of governor of Rivers state, Nysom Wike, meeting former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in London to mend the cracks that emerged from the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Reports also have it that the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, also met Wike and his entourage in London to form a possible alliance ahead of the elections.
These meetings have drawn the ire of Nigerian experts in diplomacy and international affairs, who denounced the meetings outside Nigeria as “irresponsibility” as they expose the nation more to Western interference and manipulation.
The director, Centre for China Studies, Charles Onunaiju, told LEADERSHIP Friday yesterday that it is the highest level of “irresponsibility and crass insensitivity” adding that it shows that Nigerian politicians have no peers in mediocrity all over the world.
“There is no elite in the world that is willing to play a subsidiary role for the foreign powers other than the Nigerian political elite. Just look at our economic reforms, has any of our reforms been driven by domestic imperatives? Reforms are always Western-driven and these politicians are willing tools in the hands of the Western powers.
“This is national sabotage at the peak of the economic crunch, when every dollar should be conserved to revive our local industries. Industries are shutting down for lack of access to forex to purchase raw materials and these people are playing with dollars and frittering it away.
“How many politicians from Ghana or Benin Republic have come to Nigeria to sit down and discuss? Is there no place in Nigeria enough to discuss Nigeria? It demonstrates the irresponsibility of this political class of all the parties. This clique has nothing to offer Nigerians, there is no future with this clique, and the world laughs at them.
“One of the charges against colonialism and imperialism is that the fate of Nigeria and other African countries was decided outside Nigeria. So, what is the difference today between what these people do and what the colonial overlords did?
“It is no longer medical tourism but political tourism. Can’t you see how far these people have reduced the rest of us? We are now the laughing stock for the rest of the world. At the point of extreme economic challenges, poverty and insecurity in Nigeria, these people have no sense of purpose; they are driven by vanity and avarice,” he said.
International Constitutional Law expert, Livingstone Wechie, said there is a possibility of interference because Africa and Nigeria have not disentangled themselves from the subservient role they play to protect Western economic interest to the detriment of Nigeria and Africa.
“There is a tendency that the West may be playing a role in some of these engagements that go on in Western countries. It goes to show that African and Nigerian political elite are still playing the servant role to the master,” he said.
He said, however, that the most important thing is that the people of Nigeria should determine their future with their PVCs.
“The Electoral Act has given a lot of leverage for citizenship participation and determination of the outcomes of our elections. So, anybody who does not meet the demands of the citizens will face the risk of being rejected at the polls,” he said.
Jonathan, Sambo Stress Unity, Issues-based Campaign
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said the 2023 general elections are critical to our national aspirations, shared prosperity, and development, urging politicians to be mindful of the nation’s unity and stability.
He also urged politicians to exercise discipline in their campaigns and other political activities.
Jonathan made the call during the Annual Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Legacy Dialogue which was held yesterday in Abuja.
Jonathan also urged political gladiators and Nigerians to be determined to participate in the democratic processes and mobilise to vote for those who will manage the affairs of the country.
“To the rest of us, this period does not afford us the luxury of indifference. We must be determined to participate in our democratic processes.”
Similarly, former Vice President Nnamdi Sambo has asked candidates and stakeholders of the various political parties to adopt issue-based campaigns as the nation approaches the 2023 general election.
Sambo noted that the 2022 dialogue put together by the Ibrahim and Maryam Babangida Presidential Library Foundation with the broad theme: ‘Issues in Africa’s Democratic Journey,’ is unique and apt, especially as it comes ahead of another electioneering process scheduled to hold next year in the country.
Sambo added that political stability in Nigeria’s democracy is as strategic as stability in Africa’s democratic journey.
The former Kaduna State governor further said since the return to democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999, the nation has witnessed six successful elections which is a clear indication of how acceptable democracy has become as the best method of governance in the country.
While encouraging Nigerians to actively get involved in the electoral process by exercising their constitutional rights, Sambo called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure adequate voter education and sufficient preparation for hitch-free elections.
On his part, former national chairman of the ruling APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, counselled Nigerians to rise above sectional sentiments.
“I have heard views that appear contradictory. You want to zone. Zone what? Zone the right to serve? It is your turn? To do what? There is some implied self-interest in all of the clamour for zoning or power rotation.
“People must understand that to be a technocrat doesn’t make anyone a competent leader. The qualities of leadership do not flow from the classroom. To be electable does not necessarily mean to be a technocrat,” he said.
Extolling the virtues of Babangida, he said, “We cannot say any leader has got every right, some leaders including IBB did indeed manage to get some things right, but succeeding leaders abandoned those things.
“As a consequence, we have found ourselves taking turns and competing to cry for Nigeria.
“We have failed to appreciate the fact that insecurity is a consequence. If we don’t deal with the causes of insecurity, we will keep repeating the same mistakes. If we had sustained IBB’s policy of nomadic education, some of the security challenges rocking our nation would not be as complex as they have become.”
In her welcome remarks, the convener of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Legacy Dialogue, Aisha Babangida, said the event brought together some of the finest minds in Nigeria to consider the prospects for the future of the nation as Nigerians look forward to next year’s transitional election.
“Today is an opportunity to build on the success of last year’s maiden edition of The Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Legacy Dialogue and to take forward the ideas discussed there. But more than that, it is an opportunity to build on the wider legacy of progress towards democracy in our great nation as we consider the pressing issues in Africa’s democratic journey,” Babangida said.
In attendance were former Vice President Nnamdi Sambo; FCT Minister, Mohammed Musa Bello; vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed; and presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Adewole Adebayo, among others.