FEB 16TH
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: THE CANDIDATES TO WATCH
Few hours to the presidential and
national assembly elections in Nigeria, Remo Times has followed the campaigns
of various leading candidates in the forthcoming elections across different
political parties, particularly in Remo division of Ogun State, for several
months.
Though the candidates are as numerous
as their political parties, we have identified some of the major candidates to
watch in the forthcoming elections.
This is without any prejudice to the
chances of candidate of other political parties.
The analysis below is in no
particular other;
KINGSLEY MOGHALU
Kingsley Moghalu is a former Deputy Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria, where he resigned recently to join politics. He is the candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP. Until his formal declaration of intent to run for the office of the president, not so much is known about Moghalu politically.
However, his sterling performance at the Channels TV presidential debate has thrown him up as a viable alternative candidate among the two leading presidential candidates.
What worries Nigerians mainly about Moghalu's chances at Saturday's presidential election is his lack of visible and political structures across the coutry. In Nigeria, political structure is believed to be a major prerequisite for winning a serious election like the presidency.
Another major spanners in the wheel of Moghalu's presidential ambition is a lack of consensus among the younger presidential, elements in the country. This, many believed will give an upper hand to the two leading presidential candidates with the votes of the younger candidates splitted among them.
Nevertheless, Moghalu remains a major contender in Saturday's presidential election.
STEPHEN OMOYELESOWORE Sowore needs little or no introduction to many Nigerians, particularly the younger generation. He is the founder of Sahara Reporters, a conglomerate of online media outfits. His exemplary journalistic feat and struggles for human rights since his days as the president of University of Lagos students union is a major edge for him among other presidential candidates.
47 year old Sowore is the candidate of the African Action Congress. He is one of the youngest among the presidential candidates for the 2019 general election. Sowore is banking on his massive youth followership on social media and public goodwill, generated mainly through his media outfit, Sahara Reporters and human rights activism as strong selling point for his presidential ambition.
Sowore also prides himself as the only presidential candidate to have toured the entire 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory during his presidential campaign tour of the country. However, many believed that, unlike other candidates, Sowore is a greenhorn in politics and lacks the requisite political mastery and experience require to run a complex state like Nigeria. Proponents of this school of thought also believes that Sowore's political party, AAC lacks the needed political structure required to deliver him the victory at Saturday's presidential poll.
FELADUROTOYE Olufela Durotoye is Nigeria's most celebrated motivational speaker and human capacity trainer. He has a vision of helping individuals, organisations and nations achieve their utmost dream and purpose.
Fela Durotoye emerged the consensus candidate for the initial alliance among younger presidential candidates, after Sowore and Moghalu pulled out of the consensus discussions in 2018. Like Sowore, Durotoye enjoys wide acceptance and followership among the youths of Nigeria. His positive mien and clear headedness is a very strong selling point for the ANN presidential candidate.
His corporate exposure and management consultancy exploits within and outside Nigeria is a major added advantage to the requisite experience needed by any serious presidential candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections.
Though, Alliance for New Nigeria, ANN is fielding candidates in many political offices across the country, many believed that the party lacks the basic political structure that can deliver it victory in the forthcoming presidential election.
Similarly, Fela Durotoye, unlike other presidential candidates in the race has not really given his campaign a strong push, as many believed his corporate political approach to campaign may be his major undoing.
MUHAMMED BUHARI Muhammed Buhari is Nigeria's incumbent president. He is seeking a second term ticket on the
platform of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, APC. Apart from the
fact that he enjoys some power of incumbency, PMB as fondly called by his numerous
supporters is the candidate to beat in the forthcoming presidential election in
the country.
One thing President Buhari also have
going for him is cult followership by the masses of the north, which has the
bulk of Nigerian voting population. This
is evident in millions of votes he recorded in successive past elections in
2003, 2007 and 2011, before his election into office in 2019.
In addition, PMB also enjoys the
support of the south western part of the country, another massive voting
section of the country, after the northern part, where the president hails
from.
Buhari's re-election campaign mantra
is Next Levels. Those rooting for Mr President's re-election bid have based
their support on his integrity, anti - corruption fight and massive
infrastructural developments projects, spread across most states of the
country.
Whether or not president Buhari will
be re-elected will be revealed in few days time.
ALH ATIKU
ABUBAKAR
Atiku Abubakar is
the candidate of the leading opposition party, PDP. The party is Nigeria's
seconded largest party, after the ruling APC. Thhe party has a very strong
party loyalists across several states of Nigeria. Having been in power for 16
consecutive years, since the return of democracy in 1999.
One strong campaign focus of Alh
Atiku Abubakar is the promise to make Nigeria work again. This is in apparent
response to the current state of Nigeria's economy, which has been seriously challenged since the
current APC government took over in 2015.
Many supporters of Atiku and Obi
believes that they are the best combination to take Nigeria out of the current
economic challenges. It is widely belived that Atiku, being a business man, with
chains of business interests across different sectors of Nigeria's economy has
the magic wand to turn the fortunes of the nation around for good.
Unlike Buhari, many beleived that
Atiku Abubakar understands the economy more than the incumbent president, being
the btain behind the privatisation agenda of the Obasanjo led PDP government
between 1999 to 2007. Alh Atiku Abubakar was recently endorsed by all the
leadership of Nigeria's geo-polifical zones socio-political organisations
namely, Afenifere, PANDEF, Ohaneze, NEF among others.
It is widely believed that former
President, Olisegun Obasanjo's public endorsement and support of Atiku's
presidential ambition is. major political point for Atiku Abubakar due to
Obasanjo's global influence and roles in the emergence of the incumbent
president, Muhammed Buhari.
One major odd that is against Atiku
Abubakar is a wide believe among Nigerians that he is a corrupt politician.
Though, Alh Atiku Abubakar has not been prosecuted by any court of law or
tribunal, this negative perception was strengthened when his former boss,
President Olusegun Obasanjo accused Abubakar of being a highly corrupt
politician that cannot be trusted.
The fate of Alh Atiku Abubakar and
his deputy, Peter Obi will be decided by the Nigerian electorates, as they go
to the polls on Saturday, 16th February.
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