PDP, ACN primaries: Beyond the clash of political titans

National Publicity Secretary, Action Congress, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; and National Secretary, Dr. Usman Bugaje, at a press conference on ‘Shall we let the PDP set Nigeria ablaze,’ in Abuja...on Thursday.

Before the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party and its main rival, the Action Congress of Nigeria, which took place in Abuja and Lagos respectively, both parties had probably given hints of their preferred candidates for the 2011 presidential poll.

While the ruling PDP had to grapple with the contentious zoning formula that nearly tore the party into shreds, as well as sundry issues, the ACN had little problems announcing its intention to field the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as its preferred candidate.

A great deal of public attention had riveted on the ruling PDP as a result of the peculiar drama unfolding within the party in the months leading to its presidential primaries.

For awhile, the major gladiators, President Goodluck Jonathan and his major opponent, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, engaged themselves in the task of convincing their numerous supporters that they truly deserved to earn the party’s ticket for the forthcoming presidential election.

Eventually, on the day of the PDP presidential primaries, both men found themselves squaring up for the first time in a crucial battle for the survival of their political careers, alongside the only female contestant in the race for the party’s nomination, the indefatigable Mrs. Sarah Jibril.

Jonathan finally emerged the candidate of the PDP, polling 2,736 votes to beat Atiku, who garnered 805 votes.

Later the same day – January 14, 2011 – the ACN held its presidential primaries in Lagos amid fanfare. Actually, it would be incorrect to describe what happened at Onikan Stadium, the venue of the event, as a contest. There was no contest. Ribadu was virtually proclaimed winner by all the delegates of the party across the country after other contestants voluntarily withdrew from the race.

The outcome of the ACN presidential primaries clearly reflects the thriving spirit and culture within the party. Unprecedented as it seems, the withdrawal of Ribadu’s opponents, the former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa and Alhaji Sheidu Malami, from the contest to pave the way for his nomination as the party’s presidential candidate, is enough proof of the maturity of the politicians themselves and their commitment to the practice of politics without bitterness.

In comparison to the ACN event, the PDP primaries would have paled into insignificance, but for the fact that the latter turned out, against all expectations, hitch-free and transparent. For once, the organisers of the PDP event did well to provide maximum security at the Eagle Square, venue of the primaries and scene of the bloody October 1, 2010 bomb blasts, and to ensure that it was not marred by any violent incident.

Later in 2011, it is certain that Jonathan and Ribadu will be in the race for the presidency alongside contestants from other parties. As a result, many Nigerians expect that nothing disrupted the result of the PDP presidential primaries, in spite of the ominous tone in Abubakar’s campaign rhetoric on Thursday. Beyond the looming clash of titans in the 2011 presidential election, the entire nation expects that the lessons of both parties’ primaries, which hint at the possible departure of the old and condemnable political culture and habits, will eventually rub on the elections in April.