The despair around the Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign is growing thick with every passing day. Crippling despondency is sweeping across Team. Less than 21 days to the presidential poll, there is an internal war raging in the All Progressives Congress (APC) to render futile the realisation of the Asiwaju’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
Despite running for the presidency on the platform of a ruling party, the unanimity of actions and unity of purpose among top party leaders for victory is still a matter of guess work. If the emergence of the former governor as candidate of the APC was trailed by bickering that tore various camps into rancorous groups, the presidential candidate has been unable to wield the rancorous groups into a united force to work for the victory of the party.
More than any contentious matter, the choice of the Muslim-Muslim ticket and the attempts to justify the same faith ticket was a trying moment for the ruling party. Even among the APC aspirants, stories of wads of dollars changing hands to influence delegates in Abuja made the rounds. Irked by what happened at the primaries, some of the aspirants stepped down from the contest, while one of them approached the courts to nullify the result of the primary election.
As the ruling party was about resolving its internal wrangling, the former Lagos governor became controversy personified. Everything about him became a subject to be debated as nothing was settled. His origin, educational qualification and source of wealth, among others, sparked more than enough discourse in both traditional and social media. The more efforts were deployed to explain certain gaps, the more gaping holes were created by those who have sworn that the former governor can only be president over their dead bodies.
Some even threatened to go into exile if Tinubu emerged as president. Though, unlike other candidates, the APC candidate has been subjected to scrutiny even when it is clear that he is not the only candidate whose health is in doubt. The anti-Tinubu elements are not just willing to throw in the towel as they have allegedly secured the services of Aso Villa officials to truncate the presidential dream of the man who has made it clear as the day that it is his turn to rule Nigeria. But, it is steadily becoming obvious that Tinubu’s bid for the presidency won’t turn out to be a walk in the park.
Recent events have shown that those opposed to the APC candidate are not about to go to sleep. They are throwing everything under the fire to show what they consider to be a disaster if he is elected to lead Africa’s giant. The Tinubu camp was recently thrown into turmoil when Hajiya Naja’atu Bala Mohammed opened a can of worms on the Tinubu’s presidency if it is allowed to come true. The Tinubu Camp has described the recent exposure by Mrs. Naja’atu’s as tale by moonlight as the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and debunked the entire allegations on its candidate as a product of imagination created by an irritant busybody seeking for relevance through contriving fat tissues of lies aimed at deceiving Nigerians.
Even before this week Wednesday when the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, informed Nigerians on live television programme that some top Aso Villa officials were plotting the defeat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, close watchers have always known that all was not well with the ruling APC.
Considering the position of el-Rufai and his relevance in the affairs of the APC, not a few feathers were windswept, forcing the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, to embark on damage control measures as he swiftly discredited the Kaduna governor’s allegation. The Kwara-born Information Minister insisted that the APC-led government was committed to the victory of its candidate in the forthcoming presidential election slated to hold on February 25.
As discordant tunes ripped across the length and breadth of country, Mallam el-Rufai, in an interview with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Thursday, noted that his allegation was not against the Federal Government but targeted at some Northern elders who are determined to frustrate the APC as a party at the presidential poll by inciting voters against the party through poor performance that is seen as punishing electorates.
Sending a warning to those opposed to the victory of the APC as a party in the presidential poll domiciled in the Aso Villa, el-Rufai vowed that it was the resolve of his colleagues in the North to ensure the victory for Tinubu in the forthcoming presidential election. He was quick to remind Northern leaders that it was time for the region to show gratitude for the former Lagos governor who supported the emergence of the present administration headed by a Northerner..
Ahead of the polls, the strategies for winning elections are no longer conventional. Getting political opponents crippled within, using saboteurs within party structures, remains an effective method. As noted by the German dictator Adolf Hitler, who says the best means to demoralise the enemy is deploying surprise, sabotage from within, the anti-Tinubu forces are determined to pull a fast one to truncate the life ambition of the former governor.
Tinubu declared in Abeokuta last week that the naira redesign and hoarding of fuel were stretching the patience of Nigerians, and all aimed at stirring public angst against his candidature as the APC standard bearer. With the former Lagos helmsman passing through difficult times that could force him to kiss the dust at the polls, elements opposed to his electoral triumph are closing in on him. The former governor whose political sagacity has enabled him survived nearly insurmountable odds in the past, political analysts see Tinubu’s tenacity in influencing affairs of Lagos, and most states of the South-west, as reflective of his daring influence over the years.
Presently, the road to Tinubu’s emergence as president is fraught with perplexing thorns of conspiracies. Apart from the many gaffes on campaign trails and outright hard-to-decipher statements attributed to him, his chances of becoming the next president is gathering stormy clouds that may deny him votes at the poll.
Unlike many candidates, the APC flag bearer has been in the forefront of campaigns aimed at selling his vision. Against the backdrop of many controversies that have recently trailed his campaign, the man who made Buhari a president in 2015 is leaving no stone unturned to become the next president.
Those who know him say ignoring the man who has now become the political leader of South-west politics will be doing so at one’s peril. As someone who not only made people but also empower cronies to serve what he stands for, the APC candidate cannot be considered as an easy push as he has created a powerful group of committed and willing politicians who are willing to serve his interest in realising his presidential dream.
Less than three weeks to the poll, conspiracy theories are holding sway over the skies. As the Kaduna governor alleged, a cabal from the North is sleepless to ensure the Tinubu presidential dream is frustrated. The smoke of controversy over the same faith choice and the many controversies surrounding his person are still veritable sources of public debate
However, Tinubu once walked on familiar terrain and survived to be where he is today. Considering the boundless energies he has deployed in realising this lifelong ambition of his, he seems ready to go the extra mile and withstand all the storms being hurled against him.
Tinubu wants to make history by becoming the first kingmaker to ascend the presidency. After making many of his cronies as governors, he worked hard, more than any Nigerian politician, to realise the presidential ambition of General Buhari.
Now, he is set to make history. When he visited Kano recently, the Jagaba declared to the crowd that he was not going to talk but dance. That he did. His dance in Kano is symbolic of an assured victory. However, insiders plotting victory for the APC candidate know that the road ahead could turn out rough and dusty.
For the man who claims his turn is here, dancing to the corridors of power may not be feasible for now. He must wage wars against those determined to stop him. With an alleged northern cabal fighting to stop him from realising his dream, his resoluteness to win may turn the coming weeks into an uncertain future. How that plays out in the final analysis is best left to the dictates of times and exigency. He will need to throw everything in the fire to stop those determined to stop him from becoming president.
