2023 Election: Who will carry Buhari’s unpalatable burdens as next president?

In a few hours from now 87million registered Nigerian voters will decide the next president to carry Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari’s heavily indebted economy on his head for the next four years.

It’s one job that no Nigerian should envy as the task ahead the next president is not just a market of buying and selling but to change the change that will put a smile on the faces of very angry Nigerians.

The Presidential and National Assembly elections will be held today, Saturday, February 25, 2023.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured that the polls will not be postponed in spite of the general atmosphere of insecurity and uncertainty in parts of the country particularly in the South East and the terrorist infested north.

Tension had been mounting for several weeks following violent protests over the currency redesign policy and the resultant cash crunch. The controversial monetary policy had imposed an unprecedented hardship on Nigerians in different parts of the country.

The situation has been compounded by a spate of violent attacks targeted at political actors apparently by their political opponents. The climax was the gruesome murder of Oyibo Chukwu, the candidate of the Labour Party in Enugu East Senatorial District of Enugu State. Oyibo and five of his political associates were attacked, killed and their bodies set ablaze while they were returning from a campaign tour.

Yet, millions of Nigerians will brave the odds to exercise their franchise today traveling from different parts of the country to remote areas.

They will be choosing the next President and those who will represent them at the National Assembly for the next four years. As expected, a lot of emphasis is placed on the Presidency of Africa’s most populous country.

The presidential candidate of the eighteen registered political parties will be taking part in the all important contest. The presidential candidates in the race are: Accord Party (AP), Imumolen Christopher; Action Alliance (AA), Al Mustapha Hamza; African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore; African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kachikwu Dumebi; Action Democratic Party (ADP), Sani Yabagi; All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu ; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Umeadi Chukwudi and Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Ojei Princess Chichi, the only female in the race.

Others on the ballot include Action Peoples Party (APP), Nnadi Osita; Boot Party (BP), Adenuga Oluwafemi; Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi; New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso; National Rescue Movement (NRM), Osakwe Johnson; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Abiola Kolawole; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adebayo Adewole; Young Peoples Party (YPP), Ado-Ibrahim Abdulmalik and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Dan Nwanyanwu.

Out of this crowd, only four contestants are considered to be front runners. They are those who have demonstrated that they have the wherewithal and are likely to garner significant number of votes from the electorate. Those in this category include Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, Peter of LP, Bola Tinubu of APC and Musa Kwankwaso of the NNPP.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP, is a former Vice President of the Federal Republic, Abubakar is a wealthy businessman and experience politician who is believed to have a huge war chest to prosecute the election.
Abubakar is banking on his past experiences as the number two man during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007). However, the neo- liberal economic policies he championed in those eight years led to the privatisation of many public corporations, has devastating impacts on the economy.

In spite of this past records, Abubakar has promised to privatise more government businesses including the refineries. He has also promised to remove fuel subsidy if he gets to power.
Apart from experience, he appears to be banking on ethnic and religious sentiments being a Fulani and a Muslim from Adamawa State. He believes his kinsmen and fellow Muslins will go all out to support him with block votes from the North while he makes up the balance from the goodwill he had established among the people of the South. However, he will have to contend with the split in his party following the activities of the G5, a group of governors elected on the platform of the PDP but are opposed to his aspirations.

BOLA TINUBU
Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, is a former Senator and former Governor of Lagos State. He is believed to have a huge financial war chest and a solid regional base in the South West geopolitical zone. However his campaigns were marred by the many unanswered questions about his origin, age, health status, educational background and stupendous wealth.
In addition, his promise to continue from where the current administration will stop has not been well received by many Nigerians who feel that the last eight years of the APC has brought nothing but hardship and misery.

Tinubu also has a baggage called Emilokan (It’s my Turn) and he parades himself as the next occupant of the Aso Rock to the anger of his detractors. All through the campaigns, Tinubu evaded all formal public debates for fear of close public scrutiny.
In spite of these flaws, Tinubu is banking on the presumed political indebtedness of President Muhammadu Buhari and the northern political elite to him. If he is granted access yo that political account, he may triumph over his opponents. However, there are fears that his political machine which is fueled by vote buying has become somewhat crippled with the ongoing cash swap policy.

PETER OBI /LP

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) is a former Governor of Anambra State and was the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2019.
Obi is an enigma and a phenomenon who has built a new brand of politics that resonates with the younger generation of Nigerians.
Throughout the campaign season, Obi made himself available to both the local and foreign media to scrutinise him and his programmes. He cut the figure of one who understands the responsibility of the press to hold leaders accountable on behalf of the people in a democracy.
Nigerians, especially the youth population, are captivated by his testimonies of shunning long intimidating convoys and sirens, rejecting free plots of land and mouthwatering pensions and leaving behind a whooping N75billion worth of cash and investments for his successor.

But Obi is not the favourite of the establishment because of their deep seated fears that he might get there and turn the apple cart against them.

In spite of these obstacles, Obi has great prospects having demonstrated that it is possible to change a political culture and lead a people to their salvation. He could take the crown if the Nigerian people themselves are willing to be liberated from the shackles of mental, political and economic slavery. If he succeeds in this endeavour, it will be a new beginning for Nigeria that would signal the reawakening of the giant of Africa.

MUSA KWANKWASO

Kwankwaso, is a former Minister of State (Defence), a former Governor of Kano State and former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He leads a political movement called Kwankwasiya which is quite popular in Kano and other parts of the Northern region. However, his influence is limited and may not attract the required quantum of votes to trounce his opponents.
It will take a miracle for him to survive the scramble for votes by other competing forces even in his home state, Kano and the larger North West region.

CONCLUSION

The presidential race coming up today will be a tight one as these four front runners are experienced in the art of politics. Each has a fair chance but the victory will be dependent on a number of factors, some beyond the control of the individual contestants. The die is cast and the outcome will depend on the choice of the people and those who will count the votes.

Nigerians are not smiling, the sufferings are in multitude and this will be a major determinant in today’s election that may mostly run into a runoff. Nigerians should envisage this as the gladiators are not going to be pushovers.

#