A rash of dramatic political developments, characterized by the emergence of party flag bearers at state and national levels, hit the front pages in Nigeria this week. From North to South and from East to West, stories of political parties in frenzy moves to meet the 15 January deadline for the submission of the names of their candidates for the April general elections ruled the waves and dominated newspaper headlines. At the national level, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) put on a massive and marathon television show in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, where current President Goodluck Jonathan defeated two other candidates — former vice president Atiku Abubakar and female veteran politician, Dr. Sarah Jibril — to emerge the PDP candidate.
The main opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) also followed suit, throwing up former anti-corruption czar, Nuhu Ribadu, as its presidential candidate.
While another opposition giant, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), will hold its national conventions Saturday to pick its candidates, former military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, has picked the ticket of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Dele Momodu has emerged presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP). Similarly, Professor Pat Utomi has emerged the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP).
The VANGUARD captured the political drama across the country with the following headlines — ‘Ahead of elections 2011 Party primaries of intrigues, disputes’; ‘ACN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES: Another consensus game?’; ‘Kwara: Sarakis in battle of wits’; ‘ANPP primaries: Who wears the crown?’; ‘Alliance talks: Prospects of opposition coalition brighten’; ‘Ebonyi State: One man show’; ‘Zamfara State: Two primaries, two candidates’; ‘Kebbi State: No stress’; ‘Sokoto State: One automatic ticket’, ‘Jigawa State: Lamido tongue-lashes Atiku’; ‘Niger state: No controversy’; ‘Kwara state : Father vs Son’; ‘Kogi state: Undue meddlesomeness’; ‘Plateau state: A fight to finish’; ‘Akwa Ibom: Winners and losers’; ‘Cross River State: One candidate, one party’; and ‘Ogun State: The Wild, wild West’.
VANGUARD’s other headlines were ‘Bauchi state: Delegates in governor’s pocket’; ‘Bayelsa state: Beware of militancy’; ‘Benue state: Akume takes a run’; ‘Rivers state : Between the godfather and estranged son’; ‘Kaduna state: Dawn of a new beginning’; ‘Imo State: Ohakim scales hurdles’; ‘Delta State: Will Uduaghan make history?’; ‘Enugu State: Walking a tight rope’; ‘Gombe State:Goje gives his anointing’; ‘Abia state: Two primaries, one candidate’; ‘Anambra state: Between the rich and the rich’; ‘Osun State: Allegations all the way’; ‘Lagos state: Fashola gets the nod’; ‘Adamawa State: Buba Marwa decamps’; ‘Kano state: Will ANPP win again?’; ‘Yobe state: Senator Albashir rules’; ‘Taraba state: Suntai beats them all’; ‘Nassarawa state: Without rancour’; and ‘Ondo state: Consensus is the game’;
On the presidential primaries, the NATION wrote on Friday, ‘Jonathan whips Atiku’. The paper, tabulating the polls result state-by-state, reported that Jonathan won in 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He made a 100 per cent haul in Akwa Ibom and his home state, Bayelsa, even beating Atiku, his main challenger, in his Adamawa State.
THISDAY reported the same story under the caption ‘Jonathan floors Atiku’, saying that President Jonathan scored 2,736 delegate votes, more than triple the vote of Atiku, who scored 805 votes in the result declared by Professor Tunde Adeniran, the Chief Returning Officer. The third aspirant, Mrs. Sarah Jibril, scored a solitary vote from her home state, Kwara, suggesting that she was the only one who voted for herself.
‘Jonathan picks PDP ticket’, ‘ I’m Not Done With My Ambition Yet, Says Atiku’, ‘Arewa, Balarabe, Others Differ On Jonathan’s Victory’, ‘President’s Success A Blow To Ethnicity’, and President Reaches Out To Atiku’, were the various headlines with which the GUARDIAN treated the story.
The TRIBUNE and the WEEKLY TRUST also mesmerized readers with stories from the PDP primaries.
On Nuhu Ribadu’s choice as the ACN presidential candidate, the WEEKLY TRIBUNE screamed ‘ACN Picks Ribadu To Battle Jonathan’, reporting that Nigeria’s most vocal opposition party Friday endorsed former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mallam Ribadu, as its presidential candidate for the April general elections.
Ribadu emerged the party’s candidate after the other two presidential aspirants, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa and Mallam Seidu Malami agreed to step down. The duo were persuaded by leaders of the party at a special convention of the ACN in Lagos.
While THISDAY captured the story with the headline ‘Ribadu to Fly ACN’s Flag’, the WEEKLY TRUST reported ‘Ribadu emerges ACN consensus presidential candidate – …says PDP will vacate Aso Rock’.
THISDAY quoted Ribadu as saying afterwards: “I humbly accept this challenge with an enormous sense of responsibility, knowing fully well that the coming elections in April are perhaps the most important in the half-century history of our nation. The elections will determine whether Nigeria settles into the high road of progress or race dangerously towards economic decay and failure.
“The PDP has been in government for a little over a decade, but our people have gained nothing for it. Naturally, Nigerians feel angry and cheated. Our people are justifiably disappointed, especially when you realize that the PDP administration has earned far more money than any administration in the history of our country.
“Understandably, the question majority of Nigerians are asking is: what positive value has this PDP legacy brought to our lives? Of course, the answer is none!’
The WEEKLY TRUST quoted Ribadu as saying said that the PDP would certainly vacate Aso Rock come 29 May, 2011.
‘It’s obvious the PDP days are numbered at the presidency,’ Ribadu said, promising that if voted into power, he’ll work with the fear of God, humility and respect and deal with poverty and define the future of Nigeria. I will not disappoint Nigeria.’
General Muhammadu Buhari’s CPC was well-represented. Though it is still unclear how the alliance between the ACN and the CPC will play out considering that Ribadu is unlikely to step down for Buhari.
The PUNCH, the GUARDIAN and the WEEKLY INDEPENDENT also ran stories on the primaries.
Meanwhile, the political fever is being capped Saturday with the long-awaited voters’ registration exercise across the country, which will run till 29 January.