OPINION
JONATHAN ROUTS ATIKU (published 9.36am January 14, 2011)
By JOHN ADAMU
President Goodluck Jonathan this morning trounced his major opponent for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Abubakar Atiku after counting of votes at the Eagle Square, Anuja. The president scored 2,736 to 805 votes of Atiku. Mrs Sarah Jubril scored one vote despite a passionate appeal to the women delegates She obviously earned her own vote. In the run up to the elections, Alhaji Atiku had boasted that he would beat Jonathan, banking on primordial sentiments that a northerner should carry the party’s flag. Atiku played that card in a rather bellicose and graceless speech at the convention grounds, when he said that the zoning policy must be respected with a constant obvious reference to Jonathan that personalized the contest. On zoning he recalled that, "In 2002, an expanded caucus of our great party met and reaffirmed that policy."My main opponent was at that meeting and voted in favour of that resolution. He signed as number 35 on the list. Today, he pretends that that meeting never took place and that the resolution never happened.
"Yet, he would not summon a meeting of our party to discuss that issue and if deemed appropriate jettison it. In fact, on October 27, 2010, he publicly declared that zoning does not exist in our party. Talk about throwing away the ladder that got you up there! That is not the kind of person you would entrust the fate of this country", he attacked in a manner that seemed more like a school debate.
He warned that "If rules can be thrown away by just anyone who feels that he is powerful enough to do so, then it is an invitation to lawlessness and anarchy. Nobody wants that. "Our word must be our bond. But my main opponent believes in doing things simply because it is convenient. He does not seem to care if the country is thrown into chaos and anarchy as long as he remains in power. This is dangerous".
Jonathan’s response was subdued. He chose not to respond to Atiku’s ‘war’ steps, saying that "I will not join issues with anybody because I believe Nigerians know all of us and our history and they will choose who they like. "Dear delegates, if you give me and (vice president) Architect Namadi Sambo your mandate, we will give this country a strong leadership and we will never let you down".
Atiku’s scaremongering just did not scare most people. At the end, his bellicosity drowned his programmes and the party voted to move beyond him. The message was clear in the pattern of voting. President Jonathan won the three southern zones by wide margins and cleared the north central and Atiku’s northwest home base. In the former vice president’s home state of Adamawa Atiku lost to President Jonathan by 31 votes to 76, he got no vote from Jonathan’s Bayelsa State. As the results were announced, Atiku stood up, shook Jonathan’s hand and walked out of the convention grounds; he did not utter a word and his next move is not clear but political watchers expect him to continue his bellicose tirades from the sidelines while pondering what to make of his extensive political structure. In the end, the very factor Atiku said would be neutralized –incumbency- dealt him a mortal blow and his dream to rule Nigeria may well be rested after three tries since 1992.
Of the 36 states and Abuja delegates Atiku won ony in the five northwestern states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi (by narrow margin) Kano and Niger; he lost in every other zone. Traditionally the northwest has been conservative, even during the 1993 elections where it voted for the NRC against the PDP. It is seen as the bulwark of the Hausa-Fulani conservative base.
The president will now try to heal the wounds that may exist in his party and win the April elections, a tough challenge despite his win today. He is confident, saying in his acceptance speech that, “the Peoples Democratic Party has spoken with one strong voice”. If anything, “Jonathan’s humility and the transparent manner he has supervised the party administration and primaries so far, may have won him more admirers than his opponents realize”, says Timothy Akinsulire, a political analyst.
|
