Lasun Alagbe
The Peoples Democratic Party may have compounded the anxiety of its rival All Progressives Congress as it – PDP – has produced its own presidential candidate.
This is Atiku Abubakar, who emerged winner of the keenly contested primary held in Abuja on Saturday.
With the victory, the PDP will be fielding a northerner, not minding another man from the tribe coming after the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, although from the APC.
This is a result the APC’s sages appear to have been waiting for but it may have compounded their permutations, if not anxiety.
While they may want a Yemi Osinbajo or Bola Tinubu succeed Buhari and fulfil the morality of zoning, they may also hold crucial the argument that a northerner may be needed to confront a northerner.
In both cases, they seem to have a difficult decision to make.
Meanwhile, Abubakar scored 371 votes to emerge as the party flagbearer defeating his close contender, Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers, who polled 237 votes.
Sen. David Mark, the Chairman and Chief Retuning Officer of the PDP Special Convention, announcing the results, said total number of accredited delegates was 767, the total number of votes cast was 763, while 13 were invalid votes.
Mark said that “Abubakar haven scored the highest votes in the election is hereby declared the winner”.
He also announced the votes scored by other aspirants as Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom – 38 votes, and Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State – 20 votes.
Former President of the Senate, Sen. Bukola Saraki – 70 votes; and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim – 14 votes.
The only female Aspirant, Mrs Tari Oliver, and the former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Mazi Samuel Ohuabunwa scored one vote each.
Other aspirants without vote included former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose; the Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu; former Speaker of Abia State, Chikwendu Kalu; and former Deputy Speaker of Abia State, Cosmos Ndekwe.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that former governor Peter Obi of Anambra had earlier withdrawn from the race and resigned from the party.
Others that withdrew from the race were financial expert, Mohammed Hayatudeen, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze.
Abubakar born on Nov. 25, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa, ran for governor of the state three times in 1990, 1997 and 1998, when he was elected before becoming the running mate to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, of which he remained the vice president till 2003.
Abubakar contested for the office of the president several times, including 2014, when he ran on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and lost at the primaries to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
He also run as the PDP presidential candidate in 2019, but lost president Buhari of APC
