The 2019 presidential election is more than two years away, but the build-up towards the exercise has started in earnest, particularly within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at the chances of some of the aspirants.
SINCE the Supreme Court judgment in favour of the Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, the bid to reposition the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to return back to its winning ways before the next general elections in 2019 has heightened. For instance the party is preparing to hold its national convention in December.
But, nowhere is this preparation more palpable than the jostle for the party’s presidential ticket for the 2019 general elections. Given that President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to formally his intention to run for the election, other chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) nursing ambitions to vie for the party’s ticket for the election have kept it close to their chest. It is only within the PDP that some aspirants have openly declared their intention to run.
The PDP has zoned the position to the North. The list includes: Ahmed Makarfi, Sule Lamido, David Mark, Ibrahim Shekarau, Ayo Fayose and Atiku Abubakar.
Makarfi
Though Makarfi is yet to formally declare his intention to run, he is believed to be interested in the race. He had indicated recently that he may not contest the 2019 presidency, but many observers interpreted that to mean that he would not allow the race for the presidency to derail him from achieving the immediate task of repositioning the party ahead of the next general elections.
The PDP Chairman added that it was the 2019 presidential election was one of the things that derailed Sheriff. He said: “I am not thinking of that because it would be foolish of me to start thinking of that when you have a major responsibility on organisation of the party and putting it on the right course. That is one of the issues that helped in derailing Modu-Sheriff and I would be stupid to follow the same path.”
Makarfi was born August 8, 1956. He has a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State. He was governor of Kaduna State from 1999 to 2007. Subsequently, he was elected Senator for Kaduna North in April 2007.
Within the eight years he was in office, he was able to mitigate religious and ethnic violence in the state and has through that feat projected himself as an objective and fair-minded leader. That outstanding performance shot him into national limelight. He lost the bid to return to the Senate in 2015.
The battle between Makarfi and former Interim National Chairman, Ali Modu-Sheriff, has helped to position the former governor of Kaduna State for the plum job. He is a man to watch. Modu-Sheriff too had wanted to use the chairmanship position as a launching pad for the presidency.
Lamido
Sule Lamido, a former Jigawa State governor, recently wrote to inform members of the PDP of his decision to contest for the party’s presidential ticket for 2019. Lamido said in his letter that all the party needs to reposition the country is to take over power in 2019 and bring the country back to the path of recovery.
Born on August 30, 1948 in Bamaina, Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State, he is a strong ally of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He served as Foreign minister during the first tenure of Obasanjo between 1999 and 2003. In April 2007, he was elected governor of Jigawa State. He was re-elected for a second term in 2011.
Based on his antecedents, he was one of the favourites for the presidential race, as at the time he bowed out in 2015. But for the refusal of former President Goodluck Jonathan to adhere to the agreement he reportedly reached with party stakeholders to do only one term, Lamido would have ran for the presidency in the last general election.
Lamido entered politics as a member of the defunct People’s Redemption Party (PRP) in the Second Republic. He became National Secretary of the equally defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the Nigerian Third Republic, where he received criticism for his handling of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections won by Moshood Abiola, who was prevented from taking office.
Lamido is one of the founding members of the PDP and he is passionate about the party. He had first declared his presidential ambition sometime last year, when he said he would be glad to accept, if offered the ticket of the party come 2019.
Lamido’s ambition to contest the presidency has been common knowledge for some time. Observers believe that security hawks went after him to rubbish his image ahead of 2019.
Mark
The campaign posters of David Mark, the senator representing Benue South, have flooded the social media. It has also been spotted in some places in Abuja, Igah Ikeje, Okpo in Kogi State, as well as some parts of Kaduna State.
The posters, sponsored by Middle Belt Volunteers, show Mark in a red and black traditional Idoma cap, clad in a grey agbada. The Idoma people in Benue State had in 2015 asked Mark to join the presidential race.
Recently, his ambition reverberated during a reception in his honour by the Idoma League of Professors (ILP), led by Prof. Owoicho Akpa, where the former military general was asked to run for the presidency.
Among the aspirants, he is the only one with a military background and this may work in his favour; because retired Generals work together for their own. In fact, it was also former President Olusegun Obasanjo that first flew the kite for Mark, saying he is the best presidential material for the party. That was before Mark’s campaign posters started flooding the city of Makurdi and other parts of Benue State.
But being a Christian, Mark who was born in April 1948 may not be able to get support for his aspiration from the Southeast and the Southsouth, because his choice of deputy would be limited to the Southwest. The Southeast and the Southsouth have a predominantly Christian population.
Shekarau
Former Minister of Education and two-term Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, has also declared his intention to contest for the party’s presidential ticket. Shekarau, according to his spokesperson, Sule Ya’u Sule, has communicated his ambition to vie for the party’s presidential ticket to various elders, community leaders, opinion leaders, political associates and religious leaders, regardless of their ethnic and party affiliations.
Sule said: “Malam Shekarau deliberately refused to make his ambition public because he does not want the relevant stakeholders to read it for the first time on the pages of newspapers. He first notified them before making it public. He is now making necessary consultations.”
In a letter which he was said to have personally signed and sent to one of his political associates, Hassan Indabawa, dated August 22, 2017, Shekarau said after the 2015 general elections, there had been requests by individuals and groups from different quarters urging him to contest for the presidency in 2019.
Shekarau was born in the Kurmawa quarters of Kano, the son of a police officer. He was educated at Gidan Makama Primary School between 1961 and 1967; then at Kano Commercial College from 1967 to 1973 and finally at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a Degree in Mathematics/Education, from 1973 to 1977.
After finishing his Degree, he went into the civil service. Later on, he started his career as a Mathematics teacher at Government Technical College, Wudil in 1978. Two years later he became Principal at Government Day Junior Secondary School, Wudil. In 1980 he was transferred to Government Secondary School, Hadejia, then to Government College Birnin Kudu in 1986, then to Government Secondary School, Gwammaja and then to Rumfa College in March 1988, all as the school’s principal.
Fayose
Against the decision of the party that its candidate for the next presidential would come from the North, Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose on September 28 declared his intention to contest for the party’s ticket. In his declaration speech, Fayose said he will run a purposeful government that will cater for all Nigerians, irrespective of religion or tribe. He lamented the state of the economy and urged stakeholders in the party to support him to become the country’s next leader.
Owing to his controversial comments and leadership style, Fayose is widely perceived as fearless. His declaration for the presidency was also seen by commentators as a joke, but he seems to be serious about it.
Fayose, 56, who is the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, may however have to contend with arrays of interests within the party.
Atiku
Atiku Abubakar’s age-long presidential ambition is still very much alive, despite his several failed attempts, including during the 2015 general elections. Owing to the situation within the APC, Atiku realizes that he may not be able to secure the party’s ticket, even if Buhari says he is not running again.
What many perceived as the build-up to 2019 presidency recently came to the public domain, when the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, to the surprise of those who are not conversant with her antecedents, openly declared her support for the former Vice President’s presidential ambition. Though, Alhassan has recanted during a visit to the national leadership of the APC, it is obvious the damage has been done.
Even though Atiku is still a chieftain of the APC, he is believed to be currently negotiating his return to the PDP. The Adamawa State chapter of the PDP recently disclosed plans to bring Atiku back to the fold. Atiku is said to have been in secret talks with some leaders of the PDP, to explore chances of contesting on the party’s platform.
But, returning to PDP must be a difficult decision for the former Vice President, because it is not certain that he would secure the party’s ticket. There are fears that the former Vice President could face the same defeat he suffered during the primary election of the PDP in 2011 in the hands of President Goodluck Jonathan who got massive support from the governors.
Atiku’s second term as Vice President was marked by a stormy relationship with his principal, Obasanjo. His bid to succeed Obasanjo did not receive the latter’s support, and it took a judgment of the Supreme Court to allow Atiku contest after he was initially disqualified by INEC on the grounds that he had been indicted for financial misconduct by an investigating panel set up at Obasanjo’s behest.
The Supreme Court ordered the electoral commission to restore Atiku’s name onto the presidential ballot. He ran on the platform of the Action Congress (AC), having quit the PDP on account of his issues with Obasanjo. Atiku lost the election, placing third after Umaru Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He also made two unsuccessful attempts to secure the presidential tickets of the PDP and the APC.
