ATIKU STEPS UP HIS POLITICAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL SEAT .

Although he has been quietly tweaking his political future from a distance, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar may have sent a clear message by stepping out with the New Peoples Democratic Party, writes Ojo Maduekwe

An African adage when interpreted, says, “When you see a bird dancing on the road, there is someone beating the drum for it in the bush.” In this adage, there are two personalities, the drummer and the bird. We can relate this to the breakaway Peoples Democratic Party governors, G7, who recently formed the ‘New PDP’ to rival the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led leadership.

While the G7 can be described as the bird dancing by the side of the road, former vice president to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is undeniably the drummer in the bush. Although some people have tried pointing fingers at Obasanjo, it remains clear that Atiku is yet one significant brain behind the breakaway of the aggrieved PDP members at the recently concluded August 31 special national convention of the party held at the Eagles Square, Abuja.

After his return up until events leading to the special national convention in Abuja, the former vice president was treated without regards to being a statutory member, but as an ordinary card carrying party member. An instance is the deliberate omission of his name from the list of delegates that were to attend the party’s 15th anniversary celebration, which climaxed in the walkout.

As it is with Atiku, the G7 breakaway was deliberate and calculated. According to political analysts, he found willing collaborators in the aggrieved governors, who like him had in one way or the other been wronged by the national leadership. The explanation is that from experience, Atiku now knows it is better to align with other aggrieved members than leave the fold to join the opposition or form a new party.

Facing the same challenge, the New PDP members have not stopped voicing their grievances as to one of the reasons why they broke away – Tukur’s style of leadership drove them to the edge. They want his sack and nothing more. His ouster is imperative if the PDP must remain one and the North is serious about returning power back to the region. But experts have pondered Atiku’s involvement to include the fact that he wants to be fielded by the North as a consensus presidential aspirant since he still nurses the ambition of becoming president.

Indeed, the turn of events has been shocking to many observers in recent time, especially political scholars who have been studying the person and politics of Atiku. Not until the registration of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, as a party, which has been linked to him (Atiku) as the sponsor, many may have been tempted to dismiss the influence of the former vice president.

A former editor of THISDAY, Mr. Simon Kolawole, once owned up to this when in one of his columns titled, ‘The Return of Atiku Abubakar’ wrote: “When the former vice president was beaten to the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, the conclusion of many commentators, including me, was that Atiku had been finally retired from politics.”

Atiku Abubakar as a brand name in Nigeria’s political workings, beginning from 2003 when he almost stopped his former boss, Obasanjo from seeking re-election to 2007 when he defected to the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria and 2011 when he was beaten by incumbent president Jonathan to clinch the PDPs presidential ticket, had been wrongly perceived as extinct.

Yet, the name Atiku Abubakar has almost been synonymous with presidential power. He was believed to be part of a small Northern power bloc that literally handpicked Obasanjo from prison to presidency.

Even when both politicians fell out and Obasanjo tried to sideline Atiku from the scheme of things in pursuit of a second term ambition, OBJ as Obasanjo is fondly called met a brick wall. It is said that Atiku who had the support of most of the governors under the PDP then wanted to leverage on that advantage to deny him a return ticket. Political experts argued that Atiku had only conceded to Obasanjo to be president again because he believed his candidacy would be against the party’s zoning formula which had zoned the presidency to the South.

Initially, it was believed that Atiku was being prepped by Obasanjo to succeed him. As if to add credibility to this widely held belief, Obasanjo used almost his entire first tenure as president traveling abroad, leaving his deputy to pilot the nation. These and several other actions had informed Atiku’s wrong calculation and blind support that saw Obasanjo return to power.

But before the end of Obasanjo’s second tenure, another fast one was again played on Atiku, which eventually saw the late president Yar’Adua, instead of Atiku become Nigeria’s president. Suspended in 2006, a frustrated Atiku who was forced to pitch tent with then Action Congress (AC), and was made the party’s presidential standard bearer, contested the 2007 general election but lost.

In a 2013 publication with one of the national dailies, Atiku explained the reason for his leaving the PDP. “I was forced to leave the party and I joined AC then because forces in the party (PDP) were ferociously determined to frustrate me at all costs”, said the former vice president. Late president Yar’Adua, after his victory, went ahead to initiate a reconciliation committee to restore aggrieved party members back to the fold.

Atiku revealed that he responded to the appeal by the committee which was headed by former vice president, Alex Ekwueme because, “I invested energy, time and political capital in the formation of the PDP and therefore, because of that sentimental attachment, I responded to the policy of reconciliation and returned to the fold.” According to him, his return was to help promote the growth of what he had helped to build and nurture from the beginning.

Some experts would readily posit that Atiku’s undying love for the PDP stems from the inherent selfish nature of every human being to seek for his own good. Atiku, they say, apart from being sentimental about the PDP as a party which he joined to establish, has had an ambition that dates back to 1993 to become the number one citizen in Nigeria. Many others would rather that the elder statesman is truly interested in assisting Africa’s biggest but fading political party patch its leaking umbrella.

Atiku himself believes the latter argument to be the case. Repeatedly, he has told journalists that the destruction of the PDP’s internal democracy was what made him leave the party. “It is unfair for anybody to describe my departure from PDP as opportunistic, considering the insurmountable and deliberate obstacles laid on my path by former President Obasanjo and the party national leadership.”

Some of those who contended that Atiku’s love for the PDP might be selfish argued that it was the reason for his alleged sponsoring of the PDM. According to them, in the event that he finds his chances for the presidential ticket in the PDP slim, the PDM is supposed to serve as a fall back plan. But back in 2011, the editor of THISDAY, Ms. Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, in her column titled ‘Why Atiku Still Matters’ had written: “I do not see Atiku leaving the PDP for another party to realise his presidential ambition.” She gave this submission while explaining his loss of the presidential ticket to President Jonathan

According to Nwogwugwu, leaving the PDP would only “Confirm accusations already levelled against him (Atiku) that he is, not a loyal party adherent, inconsistent, and would do anything to become the President of Nigeria. Moreover, it will be a futile exercise that will do more harm than good to his reputation.” Some political experts opined that the futility of making such a mistake like he did in 2006 can be advanced as the reason why Atiku went for a factional PDP, and not pitch tent with his associates in the PDM.

The truth being obvious that Atiku is the masquerader in the New PDP, it remains guesswork what he intends to achieve with the faction. Is it solely to orchestrate the sack of Tukur as the national chairman of the PDP or that Tukur’s sack would serve as a prelude to President Jonathan losing the party’s ticket for re-election in the 2015 general election?