Politics
Atiku finally squares up to Wike *Your weeping will turn to wailing when I win
For Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the gloves are finally off in his face-off with Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State over the fallout of the May 28, 2022 primaries to contest for the ticket of the main opposition party for this year’s election.
Apart from defeating Wike in the primaries, Atiku had snubbed him in favour of Ifeanyi Okowa, his Delta State counterpart for the position of the running mate, despite the selection committee of the party, favouring the River governor as its choice over Okowa.
Though Wike had claimed that his loss of the two positions was now in issue, Wike, who opened a new battleground, has remained unrelenting with the leadership of the party and the Atiku camp as a whole by demanding the ouster of the Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP National Chairman, on the ground that he comes from the same North with the former Vice President.
Atiku and the PDP apparatchik, which had remained reticent in the face of virulent verbal attacks from the Rivers governor, currently leading four other governors on the platform of G-5 Integrity Group, seems to have abandoned the position to go frontal.
Reacting to the latest onslaught, in which Wike, assailed Atiku again, following the decision of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, snubbing him to endorse Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Atiku, promptly gave it back, dismissing him as a crybaby.
Conveying his riposte in a statement entitled: Wike’s Nonsensical Gaffe, signed by Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, Atiku, went on to say that Wike was a village masquerade dancing on live television every day with the same boring consistency, and an infant who was acting as if his mother’s breast had been removed from his mouth, and would not stop even if the breast was returned.
Regretting that the governor, who was once a shining light, has now become a laughing stock, Shaibu, by Atiku’s Special Assistant, Public Communication, said Wike would continue to cry, even after the election when the former VP would have won the election.
Hear him: “He acts like a failed Tik Tok comedian desperately trying to amuse Nigerians with the same platitudes just because he lost the primary and also failed to emerge as the vice presidential candidate of the PDP. His constant weeping is like the blubbering of an infant taken off his mother’s breast. Wike’s cacophonous cry of hurt and inconsolable thrashing will never end even if the proverbial breast is put back in his mouth.
“Wike comes forth with new episodes of his dramatic performances, noting that what is common to all his acts is that his vile verbiage and intemperate vituperations are symptomatic of a pathetically disruptive mind with a deep character flaw.
Arguing that Wike had shot himself in the foot by claiming that Atiku’s candidacy was jeopardised due to his failure to secure Obasanjo’s support, he reminded him of how William Ruto, who was unable to secure President Uhuru Kenyatta’s support, was elected as Kenyan President by the people, who still believed in him, adding that this would be the case with Atiku, who would emerge victorious regardless Obasanjo’s position.
He added: In his latest attempt to mock Waziri Atiku Abubakar after former President Olusegun Obasanjo decided to endorse former Governor Peter Obi, Wike again shot himself in the foot. According to the cantankerous and loquacious governor, the decision of Obasanjo to support Obi is evidence that Atiku is unfit for the presidency.
“Going by Wike’s flawed logic, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s refusal to support his Vice President, William Ruto, meant that Ruto was unfit for office. The great people of Kenya, however, do not think in a flawed manner like Wike.If we bring it closer to Rivers State, it means Wike’s deputy is incompetent hence his decision to anoint Siminialayi Fubara, as his successor. In fact Wike’s domineering attitude has made his deputy redundant, hence no one even knows who she is.
“When has the lack of support of an ex-president ever translated to fitness of an office? Finally, let me state that our decorous demeanour belong to us – they are not dictated by whether someone is intemperate towards us. We will hit back if we have to, but God forbid that we will ever descend to the level of the gutter that some people live in. Wike really needs to grow up and respect the office he holds.”
A legal tussle is in the offing to determine the fate of the June 20 by-election to fill the vacancy in the Enugu North senatorial district at the National Assembly, following the decision of the Labour Party (LP) to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude it from participating.
INEC had approved the participation of only three political parties for the exercise to fill the vacant seat left by Okey Ezea, who died last year, to the exclusion of scores of others including the LP under whose platform the former Senator won the seat in 2023.
Ken Asogwa, spokesman of the party, who gave the update on the next line of action, said LP had already approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, to challenge the decision on the ground of wrongful exclusion, saying that the party was deeply disturbed over INEC’s action, especially the reason it gave for it.
Asogwa, who conveyed the decision through a statement on Monday, wondered how its candidate would made to pay for the ineptitude of INEC itself, which failed to carry out its constitutional responsibility.
Stressing that the party complied with all statutory requirements and procedural guidelines, but was still denied access to upload the particulars of its candidate on INEC’s nomination portal, the statement, added: “Up until the close of the submission window on June 2, the party made several efforts, including formal protests and correspondences to the commission, seeking the resolution of the issue, but these efforts yielded no positive result
“The party fulfilled every legal and administrative obligation required under the Electoral Act and INEC’s extant regulations in the nomination of its candidate. Labour Party finds it difficult to understand the basis upon which it had been excluded from an election in which it had a legitimate and undeniable stake.
“It is both disturbing and deeply concerning that the head of Elections and Party Monitoring (EPM) in Enugu State reportedly justified his refusal to transmit the report of the Labour Party’s primary election on the ground that he was out of town on the day the exercise was conducted.
“This excuse is untenable and raises serious questions about the discharge of official responsibilities. Labour Party cannot be made to suffer the consequences of an official’s absence, negligence, incompetence or dereliction of duty.
“Electoral processes and the constitutional rights of political parties cannot be subjected to the convenience or personal circumstances of individual officers. If the officer was unavailable, it is incumbent upon him or INEC in Enugu to ensure that appropriate arrangements were made for the monitoring and reporting of the exercise.
“INEC should not be penalising a political party that duly complied with all statutory requirements. The Electoral Act only requires political parties to duly notify INEC of their primaries. The party complied fully with this statutory requirement. The legality and validity of the exercise cannot be vitiated by INEC’s absence, as neither the Electoral Act nor the commission’s regulation made its physical presence a mandatory condition for the conduct of a party primary election.”
Expressing confidence in Joash Amupitan, INEC Chairman to do the right thing, he however called on the commission investigate the actions taken by its staff members in Enugu and take decisive action against anyone found culpable.
His words: “Electoral institutions derive their legitimacy from public trust and every effort must be made to protect the integrity of the electoral process. It would amount to a grave injustice for Labour Party to be denied the opportunity of presenting a candidate in an election convened to fill a vacancy created by the death of one of its serving senators.
“Such an outcome would not only undermine the rights of the party and its supporters but it tends to diminish the democratic choices available to the people of Enugu North senatorial district in the coming by-election.
“As the party places its confidence in the impartiality and wisdom of the Nigerian judiciary, it urges all its members and supporters in Enugu North and across the country to remain calm while the matter is being determined by the courts.”
A conciliatory Atiku Abubakar, in magnanimity with victory, extended the olive branch to Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, the pair he defeated on Wednesday night to clinch the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for next year’s presidential election.
He appealed to both men never to abandon the party ahead of the election, scheduled for January 2027, but to close ranks to ensure victory for both party, Nigeria as a country and the people currently under the bondage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Extending the olive branch shortly after being handed the party flag, officially declaring him as the candidate, he said: “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Anechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country.
“As I said previously, there are no winners and no losers. Our people look up to us for leadership and I am ready to lead,” he said.
He added that he would work with other aspirants and stakeholders to build the party ahead of the general election.
“I shall work with you all to continue to build our party. I will campaign with you and if Nigeria’s leaders demand it, govern with you to build a country that works for all of us.”
The appeal is coming hours after both Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation and Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), rejected the result, even before it was announced, citing what they described as manipulation of the voting process, with Hayatu-Deen saying he would not attend the announcement of the result.
Regardless, Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he truly humbled and excited to lead the party into the next elections, adding that he was particularly excited by the party’s demonstration of internal democracy despite the position of naysayers.
Hear him: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.
“I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries. I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.
“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
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