Heyy everyone, I believe by now we are all pumped up and enthusiastic about the forth coming general elections. I also know that we are not only well aware of the fact that regardless of the over 50 registered political parties, the presidential race always boils down to the top 2 contenders who apparently stand a better chance of clinching the highly coveted position as the grand commander of the armed forces of the most populous black nation in the world.
However, there are many stages to pass and prerequisites to be attained before getting into the Aso-rock villa. One of which is winning the primary election of your party. Some might tend to downplay this seeing as its a partisan event but its quite as crucial as the main election because if you don't pass the primaries, you obviously wont be eligible to compete in the main elections. Although our president and current APC flag bearer Muhammadu Buhari got his APC mandate unopposed, his PDP counterpart Atiku Abubakar had to slog it out with the likes of Rabiu Kwankwaso, Attahiru Bafarawa, Sule Lamido, Jonah Jang and the current senate president Bukola Saraki but alas he triumphed over all to not only go ahead to be PDPs flag bearer but won over the support of top national elder statesmen like former president chief Olusegun Obasanjo and ex millitary head of state Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
Meanwhile before we proceed, we won't omit or forget to make mention of other worthy aspirants such as Oby Ezekwesili, Fela Durotoye, Kingsley Moughalu, Omoyele Sowore. Lets be frank, neither of these are names are winning but we gotta acknowledge theie valiant efforts right.... Lol. So back to the elephants in the room, we'll start with Atiku Abubakar. He is an indigene of Adamawa state, well read, great philanthropist, very successful business man, a respected elder statesman and a past vice president under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. I'd say he's kinda everyone's favourite for the forthcoming elections although there are a few slanders here and there such as; unlawful acquisition of landed properties in Yola (which wasn't even proved), then there's the issue of insubordination while he served as VP under President Obasanjo which spawned a decade of cold shoulder and shade throwing between the two. There's actually a long list of negative things said by nay sayers which includes "Atiku is corrupt and would render this country bankrupt" or given the fact that he is a shareholder with Mikano generators, we should all forget about fixing of the nations power issue which has been one of the most difficult challenges to surmount since independence. Personally I don't think he's that bad, everyone deserves a shot atleast until they flop.
Then there is our incumbent president and APC flag bearer, president Muhammadu Buhari who after many passed failed attempts under different party umbrellas finally got his mandate to rule the country. He got his historic victory on 28th march 2015 this making him the first president to democratically defeat an incumbent. He had the advantage of being the candidate of a united opposition party called the All Progressive Congress which had heavy defectors who dominated the political scene since 1999. Judging by when he ruled as a military head of state in 1983, making law and order his priority no one was surprised that he immediately started tackling corruption and restoring past looted funds from national treasury and public offices and even jailing some past public servants in some cases. Although many beg to differ and feel that his method isn't just working because the nations economy has obviously had a slip, there's no evident improvement in power supply and the boko haram are still out there in the north. Some even say, "if the current state of the nation is as a result of Buhari tackling corruption, we better leave corruption to flourish with us" . I don't subscribe to that because good things comes to those who wait and you don't just expect the change to come in 4 short years, considering the major health challenge he faced in 2017 which kept him out of office at different consecutive times one of which spanning over 4months. Not forgetting his sons major accident which nearly claimed his life. I do understand that we want to see the nation progress and blossom as soon as possible but bear in mind that these things take time and Rome wasn't built in a day. Conclusively, you can tell by my write up that I'm not necessarily rooting for or in support of either of the candidates, I just did my bid by presenting facts and mirroring the voices on the streets. After all has been said and done, it boils down to us as individuals, citizens, stakeholders and masses to decide and make the right choice for the sake of our great and beloved country. God bless Nigeria 💚
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