With Nigeria鈥檚 campaign season hitting top gear, we鈥檙e seeing the leading candidates, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), beginning to feel the heat, providing entertainment that is unmatched in both hilarity and cringe value.
Our story begins in Kaduna, where on Saturday, October 14, 2022, Atiku the Arewa Joint Committee. The meeting was billed as an interactive session ahead of the 2023 presidential election. Donning his customary full-flowing agbada and what looked like sneakers (perhaps to appeal to his youth base), Atiku took the mic to answer a question posed by the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. The question itself was innocent enough, but Atiku鈥檚 response set off a tsunami of reactions online, revisiting old worries about tribalism and in Nigerian politics.
Atiku鈥檚 鈥渆mi lokan鈥 moment
Baba-Ahmed asked Atiku why the North should support his candidacy. The candidate began by talking about how he had 鈥渢raversed the whole of this country and built bridges鈥. However, in the words that followed, Atiku stepped on a landmine, or what one political commentator called his 鈥溾.
The former vice-president , 鈥淚 think what the average northerner needs is someone who is from the North, and who also understands the other parts of Nigeria, and who has been able to build bridges across the rest of the country. This is what the northerner needs. He doesn鈥檛 need a Yoruba candidate, or an Igbo candidate. This is what the northerner needs.鈥
Given that Atiku is the most experienced candidate by virtue of being a serial contender, it smacks of sheer disbelief that he would make that statement in full glare of the cameras. The self-styled 鈥溾 for whom his supporters describe themselves as 鈥淎tikulate鈥, clearly didn鈥檛 win with that comment, in what can at best be spinned as a 鈥渕isarticulation鈥, and at worst, succumbing to the demands of what has been a flailing campaign.
The audacity of the BAT
What Atiku can do, the BAT can do better (or worse). Still in Kaduna, a place that apparently encourages loose lips, Tinubu updated his thriving catalogue of controversies with another .
Tinubu was speaking at the 7th edition of the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit. Not to be outdone by Atiku, he said, 鈥淚鈥檓 begging Nasiru El-Rufai not to run away for (an) additional degree. Your vision, creativity and resiliency in turning a rotten situation into a bad one is necessary at this critical time.鈥
Following over the gaffe, Tinubu鈥檚 campaign team issued a statement describing the comment as a 鈥溾. That hasn鈥檛 quelled things though. Some critics are that it reveals the true sentiments that BAT has about El-Rufai. For others, it reignites .
Because Tinubu rarely appears publicly to discuss his plans for Nigerians, the few times he does are always subjected to scrutiny and there is almost always a soundbite that generates wild reactions online 鈥 take your pick from anywhere between 鈥emi lokan鈥 and . If he wasn鈥檛 running for president, BAT certainly has enough material to be a skitmaker.聽
A presidential election of slips
As we approach the elections, there will be no shortage of slips and gaffes from your faves. Today, it鈥檚 Atiku and BAT, but it could also be Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso or Omoyele Sowore tomorrow. Whatever the case, we鈥檒l continue to bring you the latest happenings in Nigeria鈥檚 political terrain. It鈥檚 going to be a long four months before the 2023 presidential election.
