![](\"http:\/\/arewa.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Abati.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHe also said the public endorsement by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo had put the camp of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in disarray.<\/p>\n
Atiku emerged the presidential candidate of the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) on October 7 at the party\u2019s national convention in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.<\/p>\n
In an article titled Atiku and the Rise of Peter Obi, Abati said the businessman has proven himself to be an astute politician and leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs governor, he blocked the leaky buckets. He reduced wastages and leakages. He led by example. He served the people. He left a healthy balance behind in the treasury. He was known across the South-East as Peter the Rock.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbubakar has acted pro-actively by quickly putting an end to the speculations. He met with the party leadership, consulted with other interest groups and promptly announced Peter Obi. If this is a sign of how he intends to run Nigeria if he becomes president, then he is off to a good start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past week, he also did something else that was clever. He made peace with his former boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo. He asked for Obasanjo\u2019s blessings and Obasanjo, wearing his hat as a seasoned political pragmatist and ebora strategist, endorsed Atiku.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe speech delivered by Obasanjo on that occasion is an elegant study in the art of being important. President Obasanjo said he has forgiven Atiku for his many sins, which he Obasanjo had complained about previously. He described him as someone who has a knowledge of business, who is less inflexible and a \u201cWazobia\u201d man. There were subtle digs at the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, when Obasanjo advised Atiku not to recruit only kith and kin and try to run an inclusive government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the same speech, Obasanjo reminded Atiku of his indebtedness to the Obasanjo legacy and the need to sustain that legacy. He also set an agenda for the man he described as Nigeria\u2019s president-to-be. He even said \u201cInsha Allah\u201d. Obasanjo in that well-composed speech, practically killed many birds with one stone in many incantatory voices: boss, statesman, and letter-writer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was Atiku\u2019s second-biggest endorsement since he got his party\u2019s ticket \u2013 the first being his victory in Port Harcourt. Obasanjo\u2019s endorsement is particularly significant given the history of the relationship between both men. To add that Obasanjo has voice, influence and authority is to state the obvious, and we need to tell those who argue that Obasanjo has just one vote that they are politically dumb!<\/p>\n
\u201cThe panic that this has caused in the Buhari camp is perfectly understandable, even if the resort to name-calling and abuse by the president\u2019s foot-soldiers may be counter-productive in the long run. It won\u2019t make Obasanjo and his associates change their minds. Atiku\u2019s gain is Buhari\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cAtiku also probably knows that the Yoruba in the South-West do not always vote as a bloc and that the South-West is far more divided today than ever. The electoral value of the Yoruba man, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who is Buhari\u2019s running mate for now, except he changes him, lies more in his being part of a political group in the South-West, and right now, even that group is divided; it has lost part of its grip, and its leader is fighting many political battles of his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn Igbo running mate can guarantee bloc Igbo voting, in Igboland and from Igbos who are all over Nigeria. The votes may not necessarily be for Peter Obi as a person but for the Igbo nationalistic interest. The South-South, still angry over how the Buhari government has treated President Goodluck Jonathan and others from that region, will also naturally vote en masse against Buhari. Technically, Atiku may have locked down the South-South and the South-East and can be sure of substantial votes from the South-West where his promise of restructuring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say this because I have heard some people say Peter Obi may not even be able to deliver Anambra. I say to such persons that even the incumbent governor of Anambra, Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who has issues with Peter Obi, or David Umahi, Ebonyi governor (PDP) and chairman of the South East Governors Forum, would dread being found out to be working against the possibility of an Igbo man emerging again as vice president of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of political strategy, it can be taken for granted that the South-South, still angry over how the Buhari government has treated President Goodluck Jonathan and others from that region, will also naturally vote en masse against Buhari. Technically, Atiku may have locked down the South-South and the South-East and can be sure of substantial votes from the South-West where his promise of restructuring resonates well with the socio-cultural and political elite.\u201d\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, has declared that Atiku Abubakar\u2019s selection of Peter Obi as his running mate for the 2019 election was a right choice. He also said the public endorsement by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo had put the camp of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in disarray. Atiku emerged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-52472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}