Political strategists and advisers of Nigeria’s former Vice-president and presidential standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, may have prevailed on him to abridge his foreign vacation.
Feelers from his close allies suggest he is expected back in the country tomorrow, Monday, July 11, 2022.
Atiku had earlier scheduled to return before the forthcoming weekend after attending the convocation of the Anglia Ruskin University, where he studied for the award of a masters degree in international relations.
The former vice-president has been severally criticised for his absence from the nation’s political space at a period of loud controversies and criticisms from his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and Nigerians.
He travelled a little over two weeks ago, shortly after the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), which he won.
There has been unease in the party about Atiku’s choice of running mate for the 2023 presidential election.
While he opted for Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, governor of Delta State, there were suggestions and expectations that he would run with Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the Rivers State governor.
Wike posted an impressive second position in the primary and was largely expected for the pairing.
Besides Wike’s strong performance at the primary election, he had been the virtual, singular backbone of fiscal support for the PDP, since the party lost the presidency in 2015.
It was popular expectation that he would be duly rewarded with the vice presidential slot.
Wike’s close aides insist that Atiku actually offered Wike the running mate position when he visited the Rivers State governor, after the primary.
Atiku’s subsequent volte face on the matter without the benefit of discussing his change of mind with Wike is said to have confounded him and his camp.
Ever since, Wike has been subject of public conjectures, concerning his next political move.
He has played host to leaders and frontiersmen of several political parties, courting him for various reasons.
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, (LP) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the Nigeria National Peoples’ Party, (NNPP), paid Wike visits in his Port Harcourt home.
A few days ago, three governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), were also in the Rivers State capital to see Wike.
They were Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos; Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti.
Complaints about Atiku have also included his absence from Ekiti State for final campaigns in the run up to the recent governorship poll.
While APC’s standard bearer in next year’s presidential election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, encamped in Ekiti State days before the poll, Atiku was out there between Europe and Asia.
PDP would subsequently post a distant third position in the election which was won by the APC, with the late-coming Social Democratic Party, (PDP), posting second position.
Atiku, it is said, was confronted by the imminence of the Osun State gubernatorial election, scheduled for Saturday, July 16, 2022 and the imperative for him to be on ground.
He was equally reminded about public perception and political backlash of his non-participation in the final rally and attendant exchanges of the Osun poll, so soon after his gaping absence from the Ekiti election.
He has since reorganised his schedule and opted against physical participation at his convocation, so as to be in Nigeria.
On his return, Atiku will also address misgivings arising from the turbulence which his choice of running mate has generated.
He will meet the embittered Wike and his allies, and also engage with party leaders at various levels.
He is equally expected to lead the resonance of the PDP in the political stratosphere, which has been robustly impacted by the other political parties, notably the LP, which is catching on sections of the populace.
Public affairs analysts have variously labelled the PDP an “incompetent opposition party,” against the backdrop of the party’s inertia and underwhelming voice and presence in political discourse.
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