Atiku, Resign and Fight

By

Chido Onumah

conumah@hotmail.com

 

 

Nigeria’s Vice-President, Atiku Abubaker, is a harried man. And there is no indication things will get better for him. Atiku’s face-off with the President has taken a dangerous dimension and going by the latest pronouncements by Atiku and the President’s men, the battle line has been drawn and there will be casualties  sooner or later. Atiku is the victim of both his own political miscalculation and the tragedy of the Nigerian political system. It is so easy to feel sorry for him, but considering that he has been part of the system and a great beneficiary, his current predicament calls for a dispassionate analysis.

 

When the Vice-President attended a meeting of anti-third term lawmakers recently, he showed signs of a man at his wit’s end. Clearly, Atiku has run out of patience with his overbearing and scheming boss. He must have felt betrayed by the actions of President Obasanjo and those who are goading him to a third term against the provision of the Constitution. Atiku’s presence was a major boost for the 2007 Forum, a group that is working to scuttle the third term agenda. He didn’t speak like someone who would see the President the morning after. He spoke like a man possessed. The VP raised a lot important issues, from his safety to the real agenda of the Presidency. Atiku should know. He has been part of this incompetent and rudderless government for seven years even though he has looked more like an outsider in the last three years.

 

The Vice President noted that “the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had been hijacked from the original founders and was now bereft of democratic ideals”. He confirmed that the third term plot was real and wondered why Nigeria was preoccupied with succession politics while other African countries such as Ghana, Benin and Niger were deepening their democracies. He admonished his audience not to “fear” because  “more than 90 per cent of Nigerians are opposed to this agenda”. Atiku urged the National Assembly to embark on a vigorous campaign to stop the third term agenda,  stressing that the Presidency was worried that it could not muster enough votes to  pass a bill to that effect. Reacting to comments about how the Presidency would perceive his presence at the meeting, the Vice President waxed philosophical, noting that the last three years had been traumatic for him in the Presidency and that “things could not be worse”.

 

To give Atiku a foretaste of things to come, a crowd of so-called PDP supporters besieged his home in Lagos and demanded his immediate resignation. The protesters followed the Vice President to the Murtala Muhammed Airport where, according to reports, they held hostage workers and airport correspondents for more than three hours. The VP was not only heckled and abused but prevented from accessing the presidential wing of the airport. The protesters were so brazen that Atiku had to be “smuggled” through the Air Force hangar. As usual, the President denied any knowledge of this reckless display of power by elements within his party. 

 

The next stage, it seems, is to expel Atiku from the PDP. The National Vice-Chairman of the party in the Northeast, Senator Paul Wampana addressed a press conference attended by senior members of the party in the zone, including retired General Buba Marwa, who only recently joined the 2007 race, in which Atiku was condemned for anti-party activities. They accused the VP of inciting party faithfuls against party leadership and taking his attack on the PDP leadership to a meeting of  “opponents of the present administration”. They threatened to “deal with him decisively”.

 

"Enough is enough. We are all collectively tired of the Vice President's penchant for mischief-making, treachery and disloyalty to Mr. President and the party to which he belongs. Nothing in the hallowed tradition and the culture of the proud people of a zone that has often provided quality leadership for the Federal Republic supports such brazen display of treachery, bad faith and cowardice, which has continued to mark the public outings of the Vice President, the climax of which occurred last Wednesday,” Wampana said. The National Executive Committee (NEC), of the PDP has also resolved to investigate some of its prominent members for alleged "anti-party activities”.

 

These are very strong words. In Nigeria’s political parlance Atiku’s action amounts to treason! But those who are loyal to Atiku say he “has done nothing wrong since he did not criticise the government or its policies but was only condemning third term bid and would do anything democratic to stop it”. The contradiction is evident. Atiku himself has made it clear that the third term agenda is real and the Presidency (read government) is bent on achieving it. So we can confidently say this is a program of the current administration.

 

The third term agenda is an essential part of the policies of this government. This agenda did not start today. In the last few years, the President  has been using the apparatus of the State to undermine the Constitution and manipulate politicians. He has allowed them to make “mistakes”, steal billions of naira and render themselves vulnerable. Now with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) breathing down their necks, they are forced to negotiate and preach third term to save themselves.

 

Why did Atiku stay on for so long? Was he hoping to change anything? Was he trying to save himself? Atiku should have resigned a long time ago. He can’t have it both ways. By joining “those plotting to ensure that Obasanjo doesn’t get a third term” Atiku has put himself in a very precarious position as VP. The pro-Atiku group thinks it will be “politically suicidal” for Atiku to resign. They argue that Atiku enjoys immunity as the Vice-President of Nigeria and so cannot be “harassed by the EFCC or ICPC for genuine or false allegations of corruption”. What does Atiku need immunity from? What crimes has he committed? What is he afraid of?

 

Atiku, it appears, is determined to contest for president in 2007 and nothing is going to stop him. He has fired the first salvo, an insidious threat to open a can of worms if “pushed further” by the President. When I read that jaded statement I reminded myself that this wasn’t the first time a Nigerian politician had promised to open a can of worms. Will Atiku eat his words and go begging for forgiveness? You can’t rule out a mea culpa from the VP. That moribund class of parasites called traditional rulers has begun work on this agenda. This is Nigeria where serious national issues are resolved over bowls of pounded yam and “bush meat”. Nigerian politicians are fickle; opportunism is their watchword.

 

Nigerians should take up Atiku on his promise to open a can of worms. Apart from telling us how different he is from Obasanjo, that should be the most important question of his campaign for the presidency. We need to clean the Augean stable. We need to know what has gone “wrong” in the last seven years of the Obasanjo presidency? So much has happened that can’t be swept under the carpet.

 

Atiku has said enough to send Obasanjo to jail if he is put on trial. Just a few days ago he urged Nigerians to rise against the third term agenda warning of the imminence of a life presidency if the agenda succeeds. He accused Obasanjo of selfish manipulation of the Constitution to pave way for despotism. Obasanjo will not forgive Atiku. Like the third term agenda, Obasanjo will not come out to say anything “categorically” against Atiku. He will lure him into committing “treasonable” acts and making compromising statements, then deliver the coup the grace.

 

Those who are urging Atiku to remain in office and fight Obasanjo are doing a disservice to him, and indeed to Nigerians. Now the debate has shifted from the third term agenda to Atiku as an ungrateful and disloyal deputy. Nigeria can’t afford this diversion.

 

The war between Atiku and the President can only get messier and perhaps bloodier. Atiku’s situation is not a pleasant one. It can be likened to riding a tiger. Let’s hope he doesn’t end up in its belly!