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OVATION Publisher, Aare DELE MOMODU Declares
In recent times, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has come under serious attack. He has been receiving a lot of bashing on account of his rumoured plans to contest for 2027 presidency. There are those who feel he should step down and allow another person to run. Some people have accused him of being a serial loser having contested for years without winning. Some have even argued that he should allow the South complete 2 terms before the North can contest. He has also been heavily criticised for going into a Coalition with Mallam El-Rufai and the SDP.
But PDP chieftain, Aare Dele Momodu has a different view. He feels Atiku stands a better chance more than ever before to win the elections and beat Pres. Tinubu to it in 2027.
City People spent quality time with him a few days ago, and we asked Momodu how he sees the whole game playing out. More so, some people are also worried that the PDP, which is the main opposition party is not doing enough. The party is not united sufficiently enough to fight Tinubu.
Why?
How does he explain why some PDP governors are saying things that go contrary to the party’s position? Even some of the serving governors are already supporting the President and all of that. How come the PDP can’t galvanize itself and then come up with a formidable Strategy to confront the situation on the ground?
He smiles. “You see, it is easier said than done.” he explained.
“Every day, everywhere I go, people are saying, but you people, you are squeamish. How come you cannot expel Wike? How come you cannot expel all those who are working against your party? It’s not as simple as that. PDP is a law-abiding party.
“Of course, in a situation where you have so many moles, you have fifth columnists among you, there is little you can do. And then you are facing the most powerful president on earth”.
“The Nigerian president is probably more powerful than even Donald Trump. Why? Simply because Donald Trump has institutions that can challenge him. But in Nigeria, nobody challenges the President of Nigeria”.
“Everybody says, Yes, Yes, Yes. The Judiciary, the legislature, everybody, he is in control of everybody. The president is not afraid of anyone challenging his authority. So he is backing those fifth columnists who are in the different parties, not just in PDP.
They are there in NNDP. They are there in Labour Party. They are everywhere.
They are even there in the SDP the party they are running to now. They are everywhere running riot. So, with the backing of federal might, it’s difficult for anybody to do anything.
So, it’s not the fault of PDP. We are trying everything possible just to make sure that we maintain Peace. Because if everything collapses, Democracy will suffer.
It’s our biggest fear today that at the rate we are going, they are going to drive people to desperation. And when there is desperation, there will be trouble”.
How does he see the talk about Coalition?
“Of course, Coalition will happen. Whether Tinubu likes it or not, the Coalition will happen.
I don’t know how much muscle we’ll be able to pull. But that’s the whole idea. We have realized that no individual at this moment can take on the APC’s behemoth.
Nobody can take on Asiwaju. Everybody knows that Asiwaju is not going to be an easy meat. So, we are ready.”
We are ready. And in the coming months, there will be interesting developments. So, get your Coffee and your Popcorn ready to watch the Game of Thrones in Nigeria”.
What is his analysis of the shape of things to come?
“What else can I say? My analysis is that no Southerner, except maybe former President Goodluck Jonathan, will be able to take on Tinubu. The only other person who could have done so is already in his pocket. And they are watching him very closely because they know he still has his rambunctious ambition.
And that’s the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. He’s the only one who has the required funding and all that. And he’s very brave.
You must give it to him. So, what I’m seeing is that it’s going to be a game of the ethnic nationalities. The North is likely to unite against Tinubu.
Initially, they will try to buy as many people as they can buy in the North. That is already ongoing. But I believe Northerners can see clearly that Tinubu is not for them.
And they are complaining and lamenting publicly. They can see that he’s not for them. So, if they are able to get a candidate, and I’m predicting that the only one that Tinubu would fear a bit is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, because of his extensive network and experience and exposure.
So, if we are able to get Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, plus maybe a Peter Obi, and then all the other parties rally around, they will give him a run for his money.”
But from what we see, all the personalities you mentioned don’t seem to be working together. Alhaji Atiku says he’s not dumping PDP.
Peter Obi, we don’t know where he’s going to stay. And like you said, if they don’t come together as a team, it will just be like a walk over.
“Well, let me give you a very popular cliché.
That cliché is necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity is going to force them together. And if that doesn’t happen, then we might as well say goodbye to opposition politics in Nigeria.
But I’m sure that they will have to make that sacrifice. And part of the suggestions is that they should be able to agree on a one-term run for whoever is in front. So, if they pick Atiku, they will sign an agreement that after one term, then you can support the next person.
They have to make extraordinary sacrifice. Sacrifice is never pleasant. It’s never comfortable.
“So, they will need to make that necessary sacrifice. Once they do that, trust me, Nigerians will come out fully. It will be difficult for the Tinubu government or APC Apparatus to force themselves on us again.”
But how does Momodu react to this view that, why Atiku? What does Alhaji Atiku Abubakar want? “That’s what I said. I told you already. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Atiku is the only one who has consistently built his platform. Relentlessly. Since 1993, when he stepped down for Chief Moshood Abiola in jobs, he has never stopped.
And that’s what benefited Major General Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. He had already given up after the 2011 election, that he wasn’t going to run again. But people realized that the only person in the North who had that cult followership was Buhari.
So, Buhari was brought in not because they believed, oh, he was the best or he was going to be fine, but, you know, it’s like, he said, okay, let’s chase the Hyena away before we come back to the chicken. So, we are under the same situation right now, whereby the decision of the Nigerian people is that, hey, if you don’t get rid of this APC, this APC will bury the whole of us. So, we are at that crossroads again.
And I believe the only person, you can see that there is a campaign of calumny against is Atiku. Every day they are attacking him. They are not afraid of Peter Obi.
They are not afraid of Kwan Kwaso. But it’s obvious that they know that with the consistency of Atiku and his full capacity and capabilities, he might spring a surprise on them. He might be a man of destiny.
I believe so much in Destiny. I’m a child of destiny. And I’m seeing Atiku as a man of destiny, that this may be his best chance ever.
I don’t know. But APC definitely, they don’t want to confront him. But I would also say that, going by tradition, that usually a president that comes in would spend 8 years, understandably.
But Tinubu is not even four years yet. Jonathan did not spend 8 years. Jonathan had the opportunity to even spend longer, nine years, because he completed one year of the Yar Adua government.
But he didn’t have the chance. It’s not automatic. It’s about Performance.
And it’s also not to say, oh, it’s the turn of the South. There’s nothing so-called. Your only qualification cannot be where you come from. No.
So when people say Tinubu, it should be about Performance. It’s about performance. I don’t care.
Even if they say they want to give him a Third term, and they begin to beg him. Ah, let him stay on. The man is so good.
It can only be if we are all very well fed. There is electricity. There is water.
Good roads. You know, food security and all that. But we can’t see any of these.
Talking about the coalition of the SDP and PDP, does he think it will work out?
Well, I don’t think it’s SDP, PDP. It’s a Mass movement.
The coalition is a mass movement of people. Do you know that the largest party in Nigeria is neither PDP or APC? It’s the voters. Generally, people on the street.
An average Nigerian does not belong to any party. You understand? They don’t belong to any party. So they are only interested in, hey, who can bring about that change? So we’re watching.
And we’re hoping that something big will happen this time.
How does he see the people who are moving from either PDP or from one party to APC? Is he surprised? “I can’t be surprised because I know my country very well. I remember Seun Okinbaloye asking me on his program a few days ago that, what do I think about former Governor Okowa moving to APC? Even if it was unexpected, it was not surprising. Because I know he’s been under tremendous pressure in recent times.
They arrested him. And if you know him, fine, professional gentleman. If he’s not careful, they’re going to rubbish his name and reputation.
He’s such a nice man. If you know him, he’s not your typical politician. Very brilliant, very straightforward man.
But in Nigeria, they would have rubbished your name first before you are cleared to be innocent. So, who is going to now clean up your reputation that they’ve already messed up? That’s the danger in sending people to EFCC and all these places, where they will say, oh, we found that you stole 150 billion. And then tomorrow, you don’t hear anything again.
We don’t know who are in government today, whose case files are as mighty as this. And yet, they’re in the same government and we’re not hearing anything. So, it’s a rat race that nobody wants to experience.
It’s such an unfortunate situation, whereby the government already has all kinds of landmines erected on your way. So, if you escape this, you’re not likely to escape that. And that’s why a lot of them are afraid.
So, those who are moving, some are moving because they want employment. Some are moving because they want money. Some are moving because they want their own power.
Some are moving because they don’t want to be arrested and detained. So, there are different reasons why people are doing what they are doing, but it is not out of love for Tinubu. I’m sure about that.
And what is the PDP doing to make sure that it’s still very strong and intact? Because there are views that some of the governors, probably those who need second term and all of that, will probably work for the government. Of course, those who are leaving because, like you said, they also want to live in a very peaceful way and manner and all that. Wouldn’t that weaken the PDP to the extent that it might be difficult to even work with any other opposition group?
You see, for those of us who understand Nigeria very well and for those of us who know the history of our country, we’re not worried.
The truth of the matter is that yes, each time they decamp, it usually looks so beautiful on Paper, on Television, and to the ears. But the truth is, do they have the capacity to deliver the votes? And if they have the capacity to deliver the votes, do they have the capacity to protect the votes? In Nigeria, it’s not enough for you to say, I was voted for.
Where the game begins is how you are able to defend those votes. So I believe the Coalition has enough people with experience and exposure who know what to do on the day of election.
We hear some people talk about how the North has lost out under Tinubu, would that be correct?
Oh, definitely. Yes.
There’s no question about it. And the sad part of it is that Tinubu’s people think it’s favorable more to the Southwest and other parts of the South. But that’s not the reality.
The reality is that it’s favorable to his cronies. We all know the Tinubu Boys. The entire economy of Nigeria today is controlled by his boys.
Yes, they may come from Yoruba tribe, but I’m not seeing them as Yoruba. I’m seeing them more coming from Tinubu tribe. And that’s what it is.
So even the Yorubas are agonizing under Tinubu. They are complaining. They are lamenting about that because what they are saying is that the man is just putting his guys in different powerful positions so that he can hold on tenaciously and endlessly to power.
