Atiku’s game plan for 2019

in from Olumide Olaoluwa…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is reviving his political structure ahead of his presidential ambition in 2019.

Investigations revealed that the Turaki of Adamawa is re-oiling his vast political machinery across the nation to push through the aspiration.

Sources close to Abubakar said he is working with the theory that President Muhammadu Buhari will not seek a second term in 2019.

The Mandela option

One of them said: “Turaki believes the president will not seek a second term. There is that understanding that the president will just run a term, fix the nation, put structures in place and hand over in 2019.

“APC’s chieftains have extracted a Mandela-like assurance from Buhari that he will just clean the stable and hand over. That way, he will be leaving on a blaze of glory with his integrity at the highest level.”

Since the north is still expected to serve out a two-term presidency that ends in 2023, strategists in the former vice president’s camp believe he will be the only one with enough clout to step into the big shoes of Buhari.

“You will agree with me that Atiku stands out in the pack. He has vast associates with heavy war chest and has presidential experience for eight years. Among northern politicians of today, he is the leading candidate,” another source close to his camp boasted.

The camp’s calculation is that the coast is clear for Atiku to launch a successful presidency with most of the leading candidates from the north either “accommodated or already emaciated.”

Handling northern presidential prospects

One of them is Senate President Bukola Saraki, who Atiku helped to power as Senate President in a controversial election on June 9.

It was gathered Atiku supported Saraki to pave way for his presidential aspiration. Had All Progressives Congress (APC) official candidate for the senate presidency, Ahmad Lawan, won the election, Atiku’s ambition would have been in jeopardy.

One of the hatchet men in the plot explained: “You know Lawan is from Yobe in north east, the same region with Atiku. If he had emerged, it would have been difficult to ask for the presidency to go to the same region in 2019.

“We had to ensure he lost to pave way for the Turaki. That way, Lawan will not become too powerful or visible for comfort in 2019.”

With Saraki as senate president, he is not expected to slug it out with Atiku come 2019. As far as the pact is concerned, he has been accommodated.

That, it was gathered, accounted for the courtesy visit Saraki paid with other senators loyal to him to Atiku in Abuja hours after the ‘coup’ that produced him.

The visit was not only a thank-you trip but also meant to send a strong political signal to opponents that the duo had aligned.

Another contender, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto has also been accommodated. He is said to be out of reckoning because he will be busy with governance in his home state, Sokoto.

With a second term offer on the table, the former Speaker of House of Representatives is not expected to join the race for the 2019 presidency.

Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano central) is also believed to have been accommodated and favoured out of the presidential race for 2019.

With these leading presidential materials out of place, it is believed that the coast is getting clearer and clearer for Atiku to throw his hat into the ring for the contest.

To actualize this ambition, Atiku has been reaching out to associates across party lines to shore up his visibility.

Many believe he was up in arms with former President Olusegun Obasanjo with whom he had a turbulent presidency from 2003-2007 to install Saraki as senate president.

The fear of Tinubu

Obasanjo, who also received Saraki last week in his Abeokuta private residence, is said to have supported the Saraki’s plot to whittle down the influence of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu, who Atiku dreads politically, has been a thorn in the flesh of the former president and his vice.

Atiku, on his part, considers Tinubu a major obstacle to his 2019 presidential ambition. Sources close to him said but for the former Lagos state governor, the APC’s presidential primary that produced Buhari would have gone in favour of the former vice president.

His camp is insistent Tinubu fixed the primary for Buhari despite the heavy financial inducement Atiku offered delegates.

When Tinubu went ahead to singlehandedly handpick Prof Yemi Osinbajo as Buhari’s vice, Atiku’s camp felt left in the lurch.

This was what influenced the surreptitious moves that installed Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as senate president and speaker.

The next move, according to those in the know, is to grab the party’s machinery through the National Executive Council (NEC) members. Tinubu is believed to enjoy the sympathy of the National Working Committee (NWC) members.

Such this happens, it is believed Tinubu would have been cut to size and reduced to almost nothing in the scheme of things.

The Turaki is also contending for the chairmanship of APC’s Board of Trustees (BoT) to improve his chances of taking over the party’s structure.

Before the fiasco that produced Saraki and Dogara, there was a pact that Atiku will be offered the post unopposed.

But other camps in the party have since kicked against the arrangement, saying such agreement should no longer subsist since Atiku led NASS members to defy party’s directives for the recent elections.

This explained the recent interest of interim chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, in the race for the APC’s BoT chairmanship.

Akande enjoys a great followership and sympathy with party chieftains with many impressed by his deft handling of the transition of the APC during the merger days.

Atiku has also boosted his closeness to Buhari in the run-off to the inauguration. He was dispatched by the then president-elect to South Africa to seek support for the ambition of former Agriculture minister, Akinwunmi Adesina to become president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Atiku is highly connected with vast business interests that deliver heavy war chest for any political battle.

With presidential hopefuls from the north “well handled and accommodated”, firm control of the NASS and the likelihood of becoming APC’s BoT chairman, Atiku appears on track to actualizing his presidential ambition.

But with heavyweight such as Tinubu and Obasanjo bound to oppose him, it remains to be seen how far he can go.

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