ABOUT 31 years after his bid for governorship in old Gongola State, former vice president and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have had a new perception on the influence of religion on politics in the country.
Nigerian Tribune discovered that in an edition of Gongola Star the newsletter on his governorship ambition dated Friday, 31st May, 1991 he titled: Religion a non-issue, Atiku described the resort to religion and ethnicity as an unnecessary and harmful diversion.
“We can do without them in this campaign. Let us concentrate on the real issues before us. They are the issues of lie, the sustenance of life, the betterment of life,” he wrote.
The bromide of the document is contained in a 340-page autobiography titled: Atiku, The Story of Atiku Abubakar, authored by the late famous journalist, Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba.
Atiku opined that it was lazy people that tend to play up religious and ethnic sentiments to achieve a selfish motive.
Part of the article read: “As far as I am concerned, religion and ethnicity are non-issues, although I am aware that some mischievous people with nothing to offer are trying to use religion and ethnicity to whip up emotions as a means of gaining their private and selfish ends.
“These things divert attention from the realities of life in Gongola State. The fact is that, whether we are Christians, Mulsims or animists, we are all in the same boat of poverty, disease, ignorance, backwardness, marginalization and other evils which degrade us as a people and as a State.
“Therefore, in my considered view, and in the view of all right-thinking and patriotic people, the non-issues of religion and ethnicity are an unnecessary and harmful diversion. We can do without them in this campaign. Let us concentrate on the real issues before us. They are the issues of life, the sustenance of life, the betterment of life.
“These are the crippling circumstances that we’ve got to fight in Gongola State, and we’ve got to fight them together in a united effort and determination to defeat them. It is also a fact, about which we can do nothing, that Gongola State, indeed Nigeria as a whole, will never be fully Christian, fully Muslim or fully animist. Constitutionally, all who hold any religious belief have equal rights and protection under the law.
“I am a Muslim, and as good a muslim as anyone. But, the top echelon of my campaign directorate staff, and the other staff in the wards throughout the state, are a healthy mixture of muslims, Christians and others. In fact, some are full-fledged, qualified Christian reverends. They all work harmoniously together and show absolutely no consciousness of any religious differences. I will not even tolerate it.
“In fact, throughout my 32 days tour of the state, when I met and talked with tens of thousands of people, not one voice was raised concerning any matters of religion and ethnicity. What was uppermost in their list of needs was access to the things that would improve their living conditions. They were concerned with bread and butter issues. It is city people, lazy people, mischievous people, who raise religious and ethnic sentiments as a devise to serve their selfish aims.
“For instance, the argument about a mosque and chapel in Government House. It is the most irrelevant and nonsensical argument I have heard, one which is not worthy of the time and attention lavished on it. Again, we see that this argument is promoted by elite elements who wish to pitch Christians against muslims and vice versa.”
The views of the PDP candidate is coming as more information surfaced on the intrigues that led to a pact that would have seen Atiku eventually emerge as the running mate of the late Chief MKO Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the business mogul before it was annulled by the regime of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.
The choice of running has been a subject of controversy lately due to reservations expressed by Atiku, on the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Senator Bola Tinubu for 2023 general election.
A detailed account of the intense lobbying and engagements that transpired between Abiola and leaders of the Peoples Front (PF), a very influential caucus founded and led by the late politician, Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua in the SDP, is contained in the autobiography.
The book captures, in a chronological order, deft political moves that crystallised into Abiola signing the agreement with the Yar’Adua group (PF) that Atiku would be his running mate once he emerged as SDP candidate at SDP convention.
According to the book, having been banned by military administration from running for presidency due to alleged malpractice at party primaries, Yar’Adua came up with a dual edged option to stop the presidential bid of a former SDP national chairman, Ambassador BabaganaKingibe at the national convention of the party held in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
“Peoples Front members from the Southwest had a soft spot for Abiola. They wanted the group to explore the possibility of working with him. Yar’Adua was not opposed to the idea. Abiola had been his friend and business partner even though their relationship was no longer very warm.
“Still, Yar’Adua felt the group could do business with Abiola. PF was determined to stop Kingibe whom it accused of having worked for the cancellation of the presidential primaries Yar’Adua was winning to pave the way for the realization of his own ambition.
“Abiola too was similarly suspected. Yar’Adua said the group should back Abiola. Having been disqualified twice, Yar’Adua believed Babangida would cancel the result of the upcoming primary because he did not want to quit office. But he believed docile North would not protest.
“On the other hand, he said, if Abiola won and the result was cancelled, the volatile Southwest would erupt in violence. He did not believe that Babangida could risk the wrath of the Southwest. Abiola, he said, offered the best hope to end military rule in Nigeria.
“His argument was persuasive. The group resolved to negotiate with Abiola. PF would support his candidacy for the presidency in return for making Atiku his running mate.
“The group met Abiola and his key advisers and an agreement was reached. The two sides would go to Jos to push for Abiola-Atiku ticket. They also hoped to harmonise their campaign structures and finances.
“Not everyone was happy about this pact. Abiola.s National Campaign Coordinator, Jonathan Zwingina, objected but he was overwhelmed by his boss.”
According to the author of the Atiku’s autobiography, the two camps later traded blames over the collapse of the agreement during balloting by delegates at the convention.
“The SDP national convention took place in Jos in March 1993. As usual, the Yar’Adua group prepared very well for it, lobbying as many delegates as it could get. DapoSarumi, a strong member of the group from Lagos, was Atiku’s campaign coordinator. PF delegates were sequestered at Hamdala Hotel, Kabuna to reduce the chances of their being poached by rival delegates.
“Delegate election in Nigeria has always been a cash-and-carry affair. Candidates routinely offer inducement to delegates to get their votes. Delegates see the election as a rare opportunity to make some money from candidates they may never see or hear from again.
“By the time they arrived in Jos, Atiku and other PF members had a fair idea of the number of delegates on their side. PF leader Yar’Adua chose to stay back in Kaduna, monitoring events from there. He was concerned that Atiku was not being seen as his own man.
“Critics portrayed Atiku as if he was a puppet being manipulated by Yar’Adua. A vote for Atiku, they said, was a vote for Yar’Adua. Atiku was not unduly bothered about it. Yar’Adua was his friend and political mentor, and he would not deny him because of what people were saying. When the time comes, he said, they will know that he has a mind of his own.’
The author recalled: “PF delegates were brought in buses from Kaduna to Jos on the day of the convention. Each delegate was given three voting cards in the first round of voting. They were expected to vote for the first three candidates of their choice out of the 28 candidates.
“The Abiola and Yar’Adua groups had agreed that all their delegates would cast their first vote for Abiola, the second for Atiku and the third for an inconsequential candidate. The move was designed to make Abiola the front-runner, Atiku as the first runners-up, and to cast the third vote for any other candidate excerpt Kingibe.
“The PF wanted to block Kingibe from making it to the next round of voting. The former chairman was supported by 11 of SDP’s 14 state governors. The three exceptions were the governors of Ogun and Osun states, who were with Abiola and the governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, who was supporting Atiku.
“As chairman of the party, the governors felt indebted to him for winning the primaries and the gubernatorial election. During the ballot, Atiku said the Yar’Adua group kept faithfully to the agreement with Abiola by voting first for Abiola, then for himself and thirdly for any other candidate excerpt Kingibe.
“The Abiola group said it was not true. Zwingina said he had gone on reconnaissance visit to the Northern delegates and heard them discussing in Hausa that they would cast their first and second votes for Atiku and then give their third vote to any other candidate except Abiola.
“He raced back to tell the Abiola group what he heard and it was then they decided to stand down Atiku and vote first for Abiola, then for Sarah Jibrin, the only woman among the presidential candidates, and cast the third vote for Ralph Obiora from the East. Atiku insisted it was the Abiola camp that did not keep to the agreement….”
“At the end of the first ballot, Abiola came first with 3,617 votes. Kingibe came a close second with 3,225 votes while Atiku placed a respectable third with 2,066 votes. Atiku was disappointed, naturally. With the second ballot imminent, the Yar’ Adua group was not so sure any more whether it should still support Abiola. They sent for their leader in Kaduna who drove into Jos at dawn on March 31, 1993.”
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
The PDP spokesman recalled how the opposition party had on various occasions alerted that the APC government had ceded sovereignty over a large portion of our country to terrorists, “many of whom were imported into our country by the APC.”
He further stated: “From the video, in a brazen manner, terrorists as non-state actors boldly showed their faces, boasting, admitting and confirming their participation in the Kuje Prison break, some of whom were former prison inmates who were either jailed or awaiting trial for their previous terrorism act against our country.
“Nigerians can equally recall the confession by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the APC government knows the plans and whereabouts of the terrorists but failed to act.
According to Ologunagba, about 18,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists between 2020 and 2022 “as the criminals continue to be emboldened by the failures and obvious complicity of the APC and to which the PDP had always drawn attention.”
“This is not politics; this is about humanity and leadership, which leadership sadly and unfortunately is missing in our country at this time,” he said.
The PDP added that it is appalled by “the lame response by the apparently helpless, clueless and deflated Buhari Presidency, wherein it told an agonizing nation that President Buhari “has done all and even more than what was expected of him as Commander in Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military…”
“This is a direct admission of incapacity and failure by the Buhari Presidency and the APC. At such a time, in other climes, the President directly leads the charge and takes drastic measures to rescue and protect his citizens.
“In time of adversity, the President transmutes into Consoler-in-Chief to give hope and succour to the citizens. Painfully, Nigeria does not have a President who cares and can stand as Consoler-in-Chief to the citizens.
“It has now become very imperative for Nigerians to take note and realize that the only solution to this unfortunate situation is to hold the APC government accountable. We must come together as a people, irrespective of our political, ethnic and religious affiliations to resist the fascist-leaning tendencies of the APC administration.
Ologunagba called for an urgent meeting of the National Council of State to advise on the way to go over the nation’s worsening insecurity.
“Our nation must not fall. The resilient Nigerian spirit and ‘can-do- attitude’ must be rekindled by all to prevail on the President to immediately and without further delay, accede to the demand by the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians to convene a special session of the National Council of State to find a lasting solution since the President has, in his own admission, come to his wit’s end,” the PDP spokesman declared.
Osun Husband Killer Commits Suicide
Latest terrorist video: Presidency has admitted Buhari’s failure ― PDP
Essential Documents You Need When Applying To Study Abroad On Scholarship
Latest terrorist video: Presidency has admitted Buhari’s failure ― PDP
Latest terrorist video: Presidency has admitted Buhari’s failure ― PDP
Let it be known far and wide Ali Odefa is no longer a member of…
Omoworare said Tinubu’s continued stay in Aso Rock until 2031 is an indispensable project for…
This incident comes barely two weeks after a similar discovery of a pregnant woman’s body…
"All the reports we have been having, they are saying they have completed the exams…
Wike, who noted that the President would commission the projects at his convenience, expressed deep…
"Some people have asked me, What is happening to the Oyo state Council of Traditional…
This website uses cookies.