Premium Times
Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday emerged as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Adamawa born politician defeated 12 other candidates in a keenly contested presidential primary held at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
Of the 764 accredited ballots at the election, Mr Abubakar polled 371 votes while his closest challenger, Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, came second with 237 votes.
Nigeria’s former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, scored 70 votes to come a distant third while the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel, came fourth with 38 votes.
The only female in the race, Oliver Diana, and another contestant, Sam Ohuabunwa, scored one vote each.
A former President of the Senate, Pius Anyim, scored 14 votes while Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, scored 20 votes.
The other contestants – ex-Governor Ayodele Fayose and Magazine Publisher Dele Momodu – got zero votes.
Twelve invalid votes were recorded.
Mr Abubakar had also secured the ticket of the PDP in 2019 but lost at the general elections to the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.
While Mr Abubakar’s victory at the primary is his second successive attempt, it also marked his fifth shot at the presidency. He has had other unsuccessful contests for the seat under both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his current party, the PDP.
Here are five things that helped him defeat his closest rival, Wike:
1. Tambuwal’s withdrawal
Before the commencement of the election at the convention venue, one of the top contenders for the race, Aminu Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto State, withdrew from the race and urged his supporters to vote for Mr Abubakar.
Prior to his withdrawal, Mr Tambuwal was amongst the top three contenders and was believed to enjoy the support of members of the party from the North-west, the region that has the largest number of accredited delegates.
Mr Tambuwal not only withdrew from the race but also asked his supporters to vote for Mr Abubakar. Those votes are believed to have significantly tilted the election in favour of Mr Abubakar.
2. Elders intervention
Mr Tambuwal did not voluntarily withdraw for Mr Abubakar, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. He was pressured to do so.
The masterstroke which paved way for the former vice president was the intervention of a former president, former military heads of state, former generals, former governors from the north, chieftains of the PDP from the north and a former intelligence chief.
Another section of some PDP power brokers had met with the five northern presidential aspirants to broker a deal for a consensus candidate among them but only Mohammed Hayatu-Deen acceded to their plea for four of them to step down for Mr Abubakar…
