Politics

WHY THE NORTH WILL PREFER PDP TO APC IN THE COMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Published

1 year ago

January 30, 2023

Sahara Weekly

WHY THE NORTH WILL PREFER PDP TO APC IN THE COMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

By Hammed Abdul-Hakeem

The level of political dynamism across the Northern part of the country as we count down to the February Presidential election is palpably unprecedented. All through the states that are often dubbed the major voting blocs and the other states too, there is a simmering voter revolution gathering steam; majority of citizens of voting age cannot wait to use their PVCs to make a loud statement to the world on the type of fate the ruling party has dealt their lives in the past eight years. As it happened in 2015, there is what is clearly seen by all discerning watchers of Northern politics as a looming rejection of the party in power for a more viable opposition candidate to mount the saddle. The February Presidential election will certainly present the APC scorecard as prepared by the people.

Even the average non-literate Northerner understands that the election will have a great impact on how the North and its peoples will fare in Nigeria, going forward. The power of incumbency is definitely not going to count for anything. Like all Northerners, even the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari appears to have correctly gauged the pervading feeling and resolution of Northern voters to vote their conscience, come February. That may be why he has joined the popular refrain in the North today where people are being admonished to see the choice of the next president as a moral obligation and a vote of conscience.

The Buhari message of Vote Your Conscience of today is different from his APC, Top to Bottom of 4 years ago. This is because even he knows the truth; the Northern people cannot be cajoled to do otherwise. No doubt, President Buhari has tried to play appeasement politics in the North with the Kano-Maradi Railway project and the Northern Oil Drilling project; all in the bid to soften the ground for his party. However, Northerners know these are all pipeline projects and have no immediate succor or relief for them. The North has been left to bleed too much; it needs immediate reliefs or it has to look elsewhere for hope. In February, all indices on ground point to the only sensible option: APC does not represent the needed hope for realistic change.

The last eight years have brought untold devastation to the North. Boko Haram and banditry have turned the entire area into a land of misery, death and emptiness. Life is harsher than ever. Communities in almost all the Northern states are paying ransom to organised banditry groups regularly to have freedom to life. The entire North West and North East have become IDP enclaves. Farming, the major occupation of citizens, is on hold. Hardly do the people gather again for communal events that define their culture and livelihood. Ullamahs, traditional rulers and district heads are pained but powerless while citizens cry vainly for help. Sadly, in eight years, no help has come from APC. There is no realistic hope that another four years of the party can bring a different lease of life. APC has frittered the people’s trust; not even its current same faith ticket has brought a sizable shift in the people’s thinking. The general belief in the North is that the muslim-muslim ticket is a mere trap by the party to attract Northern votes which its performance in the last eight years does not deserve.

Conversely, the biggest beneficiary is the PDP which has now bounced back to enjoy improved trust and embrace of voters across the key voting blocs. A major reason for this is the recognition of the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as a grassroots and sincere leader whose entrepreneurial and administrative antecedents can be easily referenced. His business footprints from agriculture, manufacturing, education and other services are all over the North; unlike the APC candidate who is generally seen as having no deep understanding of the environment, the people and their needs beyond what he is often fed by his fawning band of political promoters who, in themselves, are glory seekers who do not care for the conditions of the masses.

From 1999 to 2015, the North recognised two national political parties namely PDP and ANPP. From 2015, it has been PDP and APC. Going into the February election, this political culture is not about to change markedly. APC has failed woefully in the North. The only real option for remedy the people see is the PDP. Right now, the North does not trust the APC because the general thinking is if the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket which was touted as far more credible and APC’S best foot forward could perform as abysmally as it has, the current ticket of APC is much weaker in all respects and could therefore not be trusted not to make things worse. Atiku’s antecedents and pedigree, the people believe, rank him far above what APC has on offer.

To people of Northern Nigeria, the February election is all about assessment and realignment. Over 70% of the Nigerians APC’s government has pushed into poverty are in the North. Over 70% of the out-of-school children the APC government has not been able to help are in the North. Hundreds of Northern children abducted by insurgents and bandits have not returned. Families have been violently destroyed and homes and livelihood upturned. Despite all the noise about ranching and refining the agricultural process and value-chain in the country, nothing has been done in practical terms. Northern youths have been rendered hopeless and pushed into drugs and crime. In the last eight years of APC, the existential fabrics of most Northern communities have been destroyed. The life of the average Northerner is today far worse than it was in 2015.

On the streets of all the Northern states today, it is all about voting your conscience in the February election. There is a clear sign that majority will vote PDP for the presidency. This is based in part on the nostalgic feeling of the relatively more peaceful, progressive and humane life the people enjoyed while PDP was in power at the centre, especially from 1999 to 2012 as compared to the short, nasty and brutish life served them in the last eight years of the APC presidency. It is also based on the cosmopolitan personality as well as the progressive and eminently democratic outlook of the politics of Atiku Abubakar as seen in his pan-Nigeria centred political journey from the early 90s to date which is different from what is jocularly referred to in Northern political circles as the ‘grab, grab, do-or-die, self-centered narcissist politics’ of the APC candidate whose intolerant political style and imperialist hegemony in the South-west of the country do not serve as the type of dish the North wants or needs at this point in time.

*** Abdul-Hakeem, a political analyst, journalist and publisher, writes in from Abuja.

Related Topics:APC Featured PDP politics

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Sahara Weekly

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Politics

15th Hijrah: Muslim Clerics Task Nigerians On Good Morals

Published

3 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Sahara Weekly

15th Hijrah: Muslim Clerics Task Nigerians On Good Morals

– as Speaker charges religious leaders on impactful messages

Nigerians, irrespective of religious affiliations, must begin to embrace good morals and practise honesty, two guest lecturers at the 15th Annual Hijrah Lecture of the Lagos State House of Assembly, have urged.

This is as the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, also charged Nigeria’s religious leaders to teach messages with greater positive impacts on citizens.

Sheikh Sulaiman Onikijipa Al-miskinubilahi, general overseer of Al-Amani Islamic Organisation, and Sheikh Ridwanullah Jamiu, Chief Imam of the Central Mosque, Lekki Phase 1, said moral conducts and honesty would help create a decent society.

Speaking at the event with the theme: ‘The Increasing Wave Of Moral Decadence In The Society’, which held at the Assembly complex on Friday, the guest lecturers condemned the spate of moral decadence in the society.

Dr. Jamiu told guests that there was need to enforce laws against anti-decent practices like homosexuality, gambling, adultery and corruption.

According to him, Allah blesses those who are kind, just and are morally upright.

“People should run away from three things: indecency, aggression and wickedness. For a society to progress and develop, it must move away from what Allah kicks against.

“Justice means giving people their rights. As a boss, you have duties to your employees. Treat others the way you expect to be treated. Allah commands kindness and generosity,” he said while urging parents to be role models to their children.

On his part, Sheikh Onikijipa lamented what he described as a growing level of corruption in the society.

“At this stage of our existence, we all know that almost everyone is corrupt,” he said while urging leaders to be more transparent.

The cleric further stressed that leaders must be determined to end moral decadence in the society, adding: “See the way the government stopped the abuse of naira with necessary legislation. The same should be done for other forms of moral decadence in the society.

“There is no religion if we don’t have morals. If you observe all the five pillars of the Islam and you are morally corrupt, then you are deceiving yourself.

“If you pray regularly and you don’t have morals, then it is a waste of time. Indecent dressing should be condemned in all places,” he said.

While noting that Nigeria is challenged at the moment, Onikijipa appealed to citizens to be patient with the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He urged religious leaders and citizens in the country to dedicate a day for fasting and prayer instead of embarking on a protest, which has a tendency to escalate into destruction of properties.

In his remarks, Speaker Obasa said everyone has roles to play in achieving an upright society.

Obasa, who said that Hijrah is meant to celebrate the clerics, added: “You would be proud of the group you belong to when people feel your impact. We should ensure that we change our immediate environment and make things better in our time.

“We must all join hands to make our society better so that we can all have a morally upright place. It is not enough to make laws, people must exhibit good qualities.”

Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Politics

Planned Protest: Tinubu, Sultan, Ooni, NSA, IGP In Emergency Meeting

Published

24 hours ago

July 25, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Planned Protest: Tinubu, Sultan, Ooni, NSA, IGP In Emergency Meeting

The protest against economic hardship, which is gaining traction on social media, has been scheduled to be held across all states in August.

As the planned ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest slated for August draws close, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday entered an emergency closed-door meeting with top traditional rulers, security top brass in his government and governors of his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The high-delegation meeting was held at the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The APC governors were led to the meeting by the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

Some first-class traditional rulers were spotted at the meeting with the President. They include the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III; and other traditional leaders across the country.

The meeting was also attended by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; as well as ministers and other members of the President’s cabinet.

A delegation of Islamic scholars (Ulamas) later joined the high-powered meeting with the President.

Last-Minute Efforts
Tinubu, former Lagos governor, who was sworn in as President in May 2023, has appealed to displeased youths to shelve the planned ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest slated for next month.

As part of moves to placate aggrieved citizens, the President sent a bill to raise the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 to the National Assembly this week. Both chambers of the legislature speedily passed the bill on Tuesday, awaiting the President’s assent.

On Thursday, the military authorities warned that unscrupulous elements plan to hijack the protest and use it to stage anarchy like what was recently witnessed in East African country Kenya.
The police had also warned against bloody demonstrations come next month just as Uzodimma surmised that the protest could be hijacked and turn violent like the EndSARS nationwide protest against police brutality back in October 2020.

The protest against economic hardship, which is gaining traction on social media, has been scheduled to be held across all states of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in August. The organisers of the protest have been faceless.

Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last months, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation rates and economic crises sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.

Politics

Tinubu mourns Iwuanyanwu

Published

24 hours ago

July 25, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Tinubu mourns Iwuanyanwu

President Bola Tinubu has extended his condolences to the family of the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who passed away on Thursday.

Tinubu’s condolence message is conveyed in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu mourns Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.’

The family confirmed his demise on Thursday evening in a statement that partly read, “The Iwuanyanwu family of Umuohii Atta, in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, announces the demise of our patriarch, Chief Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Iwuanyanwu-Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo.

“Chief Iwuanyanwu died on Thursday, July 25, 2024, after a brief illness. He was aged 82.”

He was an accomplished businessman and notable politician.

Ngelale said, “President Tinubu condoles with the Imo State Government, the friends and associates of the deceased, and Ndi Igbo over this irreparable loss.

“The President affirms that Chief Iwuanyanwu will always be remembered for his remarkable legacy.”

Tinubu, therefore, prayed for the repose of the soul of the departed elder statesman and comfort for his family