2023: Issues Before Tinubu

As the campaign for the 2023 general elections approaches, Adedayo Akinwale writes on some salient issues that require the attention of the presidential torch bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

September, 2022, political campaigns will start in earnest nationwide according to the timetable and schedule of activities released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2023 polls.

The campaign period will also afford political parties and gladiators to roll out their campaign promises and manifestoes towards canvassing for votes from the electorate.

Following the official unveiling of the former two-term Governor of Borno state, Senator KashimShettima, as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party is now set to name its campaign Director-General.

Although, it was gathered that the former National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, was preferred by Tinubu to head his campaign team, but the APC governors are against it because they do not feel comfortable working with him.

As the ruling party and its presidential candidate prepare for the campaign season, there are issues that may make or mar the presidential ambition of Tinubu. These issues include: The overall performance of the President MuhammaduBuhari’s administration; Defections of members of the party in some states; and the all Muslim ticket of the ruling party.

All Muslim Ticket

After much suspense, Tinubu on July 10, 2022, announced Shettima as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election, despite stiff opposition from the Christian community who had warned that all Muslim ticket would undermine the Christians in the country.

However, the presidential candidate said the choice of Shettima was not based on religion or to please one community or the other, adding that he chose Shettima because he believed he could help him bring the  best governance to all Nigerians, regardless of their religious affiliation or considerations of ethnicity or region.

At the unveiling, Tinubu pointed out that while he has read and listened to all that has been written and said about his choice of Shettima, he  remained steadfast and  unwavering in his belief that Shettima was best person to run for office and to, hopefully, govern by his side.

Nevertheless, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has resolved not to support the ruling party for floating an all Muslim ticket. The Christian body decided to draw the battle line after APC and its candidate called the bluff of christians in the country.

Similarly, APC christian leaders described the selection of a Muslim vice presidential candidate as insensitive to the Christians in the country. The leaders were of the opinion that the fear of the Christians in the north and the nation in general was  that the APC party would be viewed as an Islamic party.

But the APC National Vice Chairman, North West, Dr. SalihuLukman, said the decision of the ruling party  to float an all Muslim ticket was not to exclude any religion or ethnic group.

According to him, “I think we need to be very honest to ourselves. It is true that people have concerns and those concerns are not being dismissed. To the best of my knowledge, all party leaders have acknowledged the concern. When you take decision, certainly there are people who would be at the receiving end of such a decision.

Our party, APC, is not working to exclude any category, whether in terms of religion, ethnicity or any other group”.

Defection by party members

In spite of the frantic effort by the party and its candidate to explain the reason for flying a Muslim-Muslim ticket, some members of the party have expressed their dissatisfaction by resigning their membership of the party.

For instance, a former federal lawmaker who represented Rivers South East Senatorial District  on the platform of APC in the NationalAssembly,  Senator Magnus Abe, has resigned his membership of the party.

Abe, in a letter addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Senator AbdullahiAdamu, said he resigned because of the refusal of the presidential candidate of the party to negotiate his continue stay in the party with him.

The letter read in part: “I wish to tender my resignation of membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). My decision to quit is not unconnected with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s seeming unwillingness  to negotiate with me since he expects me to remain in the APC. Hence, my resolve to seek an alternative platform to actualize my Gubernatorial Ambition in Rivers State.”

Another chieftain of the party and a former governorship candidate in Rivers State, TonyePrincewill, resigned his membership of the party over all Muslim presidential ticket. He said he can’t argue for equity in his state and defend inequity in his country, hence his decision to resign as a member of APC.

Princewill said: “I cannot defend the decision of my party, in fielding a Muslim Muslim ticket, especially at a time like this, against all protestations from well meaning Nigerians, across religious and political divides. It sets a very wrong precedent, it is totally insensitive and even if you win, will prove bad for good governance. Under these dire circumstances, I find no justification to still remain, in good conscience, a member of a political party that subordinates electoral victory, over the safety of lives and the peace of mind of its citizens.

“By doing this, Tinubu is saying that a Northern Christian has no electoral value. My staying means I agree. I wish you well. And I remain grateful to our Leader, but I can not defend the indefensible. And to be totally honest, neither should you.”

Commenting on the issue, a Professor of Cyber Security and Information Technology Management, OjoAdemola noted that the decision of APC to field an all Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential race has drawn heated reactions from many Nigerians.

To him, this is because, so far, APC is the ruling party, the most formidable party and the most likely party, with the most significant structure to win the election.

He posited  that religion is a spiritual affair that should not become a political tool. He said the time has come for all Nigerians to rise to the urgent imperative to detoxify the religious content wrongly built into  politics and governance by ignoring every effort to interpret apparent political and governance issues along religious lines.

Ademola explained that there should be clear boundaries that separate politics from religion, and this must be clearly adhered to if Nigeria must record progress, insisting that there is no linking chain between them.

He said, “So we should stop the penchant for using the religious microscope to examine clearly political issues and offer interpretations that continue to divide us and eventually pull the country down.”

Rating of MuhammaduBuhariGovt

The issue of all Muslim ticket and the defections of some party chieftains aside, the absymal performance of the MuhammaduBuhari-led administration will always make a Tinubu presidency a hard sell.

In 2015, the APC campaign centred on three-pont agenda namely corruption, insecurity and the need to revive the economy.

As at today, APC has failed woefully on the three-point agenda under which Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for the party in 2015 and 2019.

The security situation in the country is the worst of its kind. While the security agencies are trying their best, it has gotten to a point that they’ve handed  the security of Nigerians and property over to God. The Commander-in-Chief appears helpless and has decided to pray to God to touch the heart of the criminals.

For instance, there has been a resurgence of insurgency – terrorism in the North-East, banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling in the North-West and North-Central; farmers-herders clashes in the South-West and other parts of the country, attacks on government buildings, offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security formations in the South-East.

Under the Buhari administration, as much as 17 jailbreaks have been recorded from 2016 to date. The nation’s capital, Abuja that is supposed to be the safest is now sorrounded by terrorists and crisis states.

Additionally, the country’s economy has taken a turn for the worse under the APC-led federal government. The country’s currency has maintained its free fall since Buhari assumed office. The exchange rate in 2015 was N198 to Dollar, but now the exchange rate  in 2022 is N700  to Dollar. Also, a bag of rice in 2015 was N6,000 and now it is N33, 000. The inflation rate in 2015 was 9.01 per cent and in 2022, the inflation soared to 18.6% in June, 2022. A litre of petrol in 2015 was N87 and in 2022, it is now  N175 with acute scarcity.

If the economic indices of the APC administration was anything to go by, there is no gainsaying that the present administration has successfully eliminated the middle class in the country. The two classes of people at the moment are the extremely rich and the extremely poor class.

Political pundits believed that the not too impressive performance of the Buhari’s administration is already a cog in the wheel of Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

They posited that the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would have been the greatest beneficiary of APC’s misadventure, but its decision to zone the presidential ticket to the North may work against the party.

The question on the lips of many Nigerians now is  ifTinubu was instrumental to Buhari’s emergence in 2015, what assurance do Nigerians have that his presidency would not be a reinforcement of Buhari’s below expectation performance.