Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The former presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is now a governorship aspirant in Adamawa State. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines his chance at the primaries.
After several weeks of speculations, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has finally defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ribadu, who registered for the PDP last Saturday after a meeting with the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, is not your archetypal Nigerian politician. Though the PDP had been making overtures to him, the former anti-graft czar remained consistent as a member of the opposition since he entered the murky waters of Nigerian politics in 2011. He hardly engages in political diatribe, a practice that has been severely abused in Nigerian politics. A quiet and easy-going fellow, the no-nonsense former EFCC chairman’s watchword has always been how he can utilise his talents to serve his people and his country.
When President Goodluck Jonathan withdrew the charges against the anti-corruption crusader, which paved the way for his return from exile in 2010, expectations were that he was going to join the ruling party. But, Ribadu chose the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), one of the three major opposition parties that metamorphosed into the All Progressives Congress (APC). He eventually became the flag bearer of the party in the 2011 presidential election. Since the emergence of the APC, Ribadu has acquitted himself very well as a chieftain of the party in his native Adamawa State. Indeed, he was one of the closest allies of former Governor Murtala Nyako, who was impeached recently under questionable circumstances.
Ribadu at crossroads
Ribadu is today at a crossroads of his political career. He has not only decided to take a shot at the governorship of Adamawa State — rather than the highly exalted presidential seat – but has also dumped the APC for the ruling PDP, to pursue his latest ambition. Following the impeachment of Nyako, which necessitated conducting a by-election within three months, Ribadu has been perceived as a potential candidate by both the APC and the PDP. Consequently, the two major parties have been trying to woo him for the crucial contest, which is expected to be a stepping stone for the rival political platforms ahead of the 2015 general elections.
The defection of Ribadu, who picked his governorship nomination form in Yola yesterday, is no doubt a boost for the ruling party. According to our source in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, it was engineered as a strategy by the PDP to weaken the APC support base ahead of the governorship contest. Ribadu had made up his mind to switch to the ruling party, but was only waiting for the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan. The President conveyed his approval at two meetings through aides delegated to herald the former presidential candidate into the fold. The meetings were reportedly held in Abuja and Kaduna, where Ribadu was assured that he would be granted waivers to pave the way for him to run.
Observers say there has been overwhelming pressure from some notable individuals from Adamawa and beyond, urging him to jettison his presidential ambition and vie for the Adamawa governorship instead. Such individuals, it is said, have specifically asked Ribadu to utilise the PDP platform, which they believe is more formidable, given the political equation in the state.
Turning point
However, according to a source, Ribadu had become frustrated by the top-bottom leadership approach of the APC. He added that Ribadu was unhappy with what he saw as the APC’s lack of ability to resolve conflicts within its fold. Before his decision to dump the opposition party, he was still nursing the ambition to contest the presidential election in 2015 on the APC’s platform, but, according to the source, it was made clear to him indirectly that he does not stand any chance of securing the ticket through an open primary.
The turning point, the source said, was the way Nyako was abandoned by the party leadership in the height of the crisis that led to his impeachment. “Ribadu worked so hard and nearly saved the former governor because he was able to convince some members of the Assembly to withdraw their support for the impeachment,” an associate of the former EFCC chairman said.
He added: “If he had gotten the support of the national leadership of the party, all they needed was one more member and the impeachment would have collapsed.” This reminded Ribadu about the way he himself was also abandoned midway into the 2011 presidential campaign when it became clear to the ACN leadership that there was no way the former EFCC chairman could win the election.
As a last resort to save his political career, Ribadu has now settled for the Adamawa governorship. He had chances of realising his governorship ambition under the APC, because the party’s national leadership saw him as a good candidate that could help to give the PDP a run for their money. But with his love-hate relationship with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who has suddenly emerged as the leader of the party in Adamawa, the possibility is that he may not get the ticket eventually. “As you know, Ribadu once wrote a report indicting Turaki for corruption,” an official of the Adamawa State chapter of the APC was quoted as saying. He added: “Both men have yet to forget that episode and it is unlikely Ribadu will be comfortable working with the former Vice President in the same party.”
The APC leadership had continued to dissuade the former anti-corruption chief from defecting to the PDP. But Ribadu’s attitude to the whole thing suggested that the matter had already been decided and that the APC leadership’s intervention was coming too late. In response to the speculation that he was leaving the APC for the ruling party, Ribadu said recently that he was not bothered about the pressure being mounted by his former party, the APC, to halt his planned defection to the PDP. Ribadu, who responded through his media aide, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, noted that while he appreciated the gestures, he was entitled to his decision.
Be that as it may, securing the Adamawa PDP governorship ticket is not going to be a jolly ride for Ribadu. He might be granted waivers from the powers that be in the party, which would come in the form of overlooking certain clauses in the party’s constitution, particularly the one that stipulates that an aspirant for an elective position must have been a member of the party for a given period. But he may not be given an automatic ticket to fly the party’s flag during the election. Thus, now that he has become an aspirant under the PDP platform, he would be obliged to take his chances alongside other members who have indicated interest in the plum job.
The Secretary, Adamawa State PDP, Mr. A. T. Shehu, acknowledged this. He said the party would appreciate a personality like Ribadu in its fold. Shehu cautions nevertheless that the PDP is a party that respects its constitution and manifesto, and that the former EFCC chairman is not likely to be given preferential treatment. “That Nuhu Ribadu has made name does not give him the automatic ticket to be the party’s flag bearer. Those of us in the party that have shown interest to vie for the governorship ticket are equally very good materials,” he noted.
PDP’s long list of contenders
Interestingly, the PDP has more than enough contenders. Some of the aspirants include Dr. Umar Ardo, an academician; Aliyu Idi Hong, a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and a protégé of Professor Jibril Aminu; Awwal Tukur, son of former national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and a former member of the House of Representatives; and General Buba Marwa, former military administrator of Lagos State.
The list also includes Marcus Gundiri, a popular politician in the state, Senator Abubakar Gurei, and Mr. Ahmed Gulak, a former Presidential adviser on political affairs.
A number of the aspirants have been eyeing the governorship of the state for a long time. For instance, Girei has been in contest since 2003 when he insisted in participating in the primaries against the wish of the then Vice President, Atiku Abubakar after other aspirants stepped down for the incumbent governor, Boni Haruna. He also aspired in 2007 alongside Nyako. Similarly, Dr. Ardo contested in the last gubernatorial primaries with Nyako and challenged the result at the Supreme Court. He has been an active member of the PDP Stakeholders and Elders Forum and he was a key player in the fight to remove Nyako.
Marwa and Gundiri are equally not new to the Adamawa governorship race, having aspired to govern the state under different political platforms. For instance, Marwa was a former member of the PDP. He had pitched tent with the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), because he was denied the governorship ticket in 2007. He contested the 2011 governorship election in the state under the CPC platform and returned to the PDP in April 2014 when he realized that he might not get a fair deal in the contest for the APC’s ticket when the leadership of the party was handed over to former Governor Nyako.
No automatic ticket
The long list of contenders vying for the PDP ticket is an indication that that the party faces a tough choice and that there would be crisis if anything goes wrong. According to our source, some political heavyweights in the party are intent on frustrating the former presidential candidate’s lobby to secure waivers to qualify to contest the governorship. The dissenting voices see Ribadu’s bid to contest the poll under the PDP platform as an imposition.
