The 2015 general elections came with a tsunami that swept
away the Peoples Democratic Party after 16 years in Aso Rock. The political
wall in Nigeria
was stained with surprises just as the All Progressives Congress, APC rode on
the mantra of change to the presidential villa of the most populous black
nation on earth. However, just
hundred days after taking over the drivers’ seat
in Aso Rock, many mistakes have been repeated with gallons of complains rushing
out through the wide mouth of the media, raising doubts over the ability of
this vehicle of change that we bought with our money to take us to the
promised land without an accident.
The high point is not even whether this
vehicle of change can take Nigeria to the promised land or not, but the
ambition of these political heavy weights and news makers who are rumored to be
eyeing the number one seat or aiming to blind the eyes of others who may want
to stare at the post or them and their ambition. Hence I have put together this
list of the top five politicians to watch out for come 2019 as many pessimists
have already thrown the change slogan into the deep pit of history, and their
attention has now shifted to the next election year, 2019.
PMB- President Muhamadu Buhari is one Nigerian politician
that has distinguished himself by remaining inside the cold and poor room of
credible Nigerians, an act which to a large extent gave him the trust,
confidence and votes of Nigerians during the last general elections.
As we head towards 2019, all eyes will be on
PMB whether he will be a party man by succumbing to the whims and caprices
of the political gladiators who
engineered his victory, many who are perceived by the general public to be
stinking of corrupt wealth. Or will he be a statesman and be ‘for everyone and
for no one’ as he had promised during his inaugural speech?
The eagle’s eye on his administration will
surely be on how he will fight corruption and fulfill his truck load of campaign
promises. After that, the biggest question will be on if he is going to seek
reelection or not. And will the big guns in his party, the APC still release their
wealth to oil his campaign? Only time
will tell.
BOLA TINUBU- A former
Lagos state governor and the most influential
politician in south western Nigeria .
His role in the just concluded general elections can never be over emphasized,
especially considering the fact that even the worlds’ renowned international
magazine, ‘The Economist’ acknowledged the effect of his political master
stroke, and his role in the electoral fortunes of his party, APC.
But after
the victory of president Buhari, the music has changed and everything has not
been going on smoothly in Tinubu’s camp. His anointed candidates, senator Lawal
and Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila both lost their bid to become the senate
president and speaker of the House of Representatives respectively. The sour
part of the defeat was how they lost to the PDP backed candidates, Senator
Bukola Saraki and Honorable Yakubu Dogara, with president Buhari despite being
the father of the party with enormous political power doing little or nothing
to help Tinubu’s men from the hands of these aggrieved APC members. As it is
said, political sins are never forgiven, so what will the picture be like in
2019 between Tinubu and Buhari? Especially if Buhari should seek reelection.
And what role will Tinubu play in paying back the so called “disobedient” APC
members in their own coin, especially those from his ‘political territory’, the
South West
SENATOR BUKOLA SARAKI-Nigeria’s senate president, a former
governor of Kwara state, and a long time antagonist of Bola Tinubu. Senator Saraki backed by the Peoples
Democratic Party alongside other APC national Assembly members, went against
all party directives to contest and win the election for the senate presidency.
His desperation to become senate president is not far fetched as he is believed
to be nursing a presidential ambition in 2019 with the hope that president
Muhamadu Buhari will not seek reelection.
If things
go his way and he decides to vie for the post, the drama will be produced by
Bola Tinubu and his loyalists whom Saraki had humiliated politically on his way
to becoming to the senate president. Pay back period?
GODSWILL AKPABIO- former governor of Akwa Ibom state and a
strong loyalist of former president Goodluck Jonathan. The man who the PDP and
national Assembly had to bend their rules in order to allow him join the train
of principal officers in the national assembly. His fast growing popularity at
the federal level especially considering his landmark achievements as governor
of Akwa Ibom state, and the fact that the PDP is believed to be secretly
grooming a marketable candidate that will help them reclaim the mantle of
leadership come 2019.
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO- former president Olusegun Obasanjo
contributed in no small measure in pulling down the pillars of the immediate
past administration of president Goodluck Jonathan, but what will be his role
in 2019? One thing you should never expect from Baba, as he is popularly
called, is for him be a passive listener.
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