Former president of the Nigerian
Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, who now leads the National
Intervention Movement, NIM, has observed that the political battle former vice
president, Atiku Abubakar fought with his former principal, Olusegun Obasanjo,
has put the former in a position where some Nigerians do not think he can win
the 2019 elections.
The senior advocate, who made
this assertion in an interview with Dailypost, was, however quick to point out
that Obasanjo is not the Nigerian electorate, and that Atiku would be a good
candidate if the voting public supports the former vice president’s ambition.
Recall former
president, Goodluck Jonathan had advised Atiku to seek reconciliation with
Obasanjo if his dream of becoming President must be realized, asserting that
any “politician who ignores Obasanjo does so at its own peril”.
But Agbakoba insisted in a chat
with our correspondent that Obasanjo has only one vote, adding that the former
vice president is detribalized with enough energy to lead Nigeria. But when
asked if Atiku has reached out to the NIM, he answer was a ‘no’.
He said, “Somebody like Atiku
Abubakar may or may not be a partner we can work with because it is about
national perception. If the perception is that working with him will not assist
us then we would not, but if the perception is that working with him is
something that the Nigerian voters accept then we will.
“My perception is that his
political battle with Obasanjo has tended to put him in a light that Nigerians
may not see him as a person that can rule Nigeria in 2019. There is a
perception on that and the other is that Atiku is aged but young with enough
energy and detribalized to bring about the Nigerian dream. So it’s about
perception.
“For instance, when we go into
town hall meetings, supposed that we invited him to come and talk to us and we
discovered that from the responses and national random opinion, the public
identified him as one of the potentially good leaders Nigeria has and if he is
identified as someone we can work with, then we can work with him regardless of
Obasanjo’s opinion of Atiku. Obasanjo is not the Nigerian voting public. He’s
only got one vote.
“If the Nigerian voting public
supports Atiku, that makes him a good candidate. In politics, you must amplify
the voice of the voter, not your own voice. I might not like Atiku as a person
but if the voting public wants him to be given a chance, then it is something
we can look at, but we have not reached that stage.”
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Let's support him, I believe the voting publics needs a detribaliased leader like Atiku to move our country Nigeria to a great height.
ReplyDeleteObj gave Nigerians Late Yar'Udua, where is he now?
He support GEJ and we all know how their relationship ended.
He brought Buhari and painted him a saint to Nigerians , we agreed voted for him, and today the same Obj is championing anti-buhari movement.
Obj cannot be trusteed by Nigerians again, its now time to make our own choice and we have decided to stand with ATIKU for 2019.