In 2011 Presidential elections, Jonathan won four more years but in particular he swept the South-West that was an Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) stronghold which was referred to as Bola Tinubu’s backyard. It’s Presidential candidate was Nuhu Ribadu. And he lost by wide margin in all the ACN controlled States except Osun State where he scored 299,711 as against Jonathan’s 188,409 votes. The CPC candidate, Muahmmadu Buhari was not in contention for votes in this state at all, as he scored a miserable 6, 997 votes. The political betrayal of Ribadu was legendary because of Tinubu’s back stabbing of his party’s candidate -Ribadu.
Yes Jonathan won more than the constitutionally stipulated minimum 25 per cent of the VOTES but not without the support of Major ACN actors like Tinubu and co. I, therefore, wonder why Ribadu continued been loyal to those who betrayed him. Ribadu being a honourable man took it all in good fate. He never complained nor decamped as most politicians in Nigeria would have done immediately after loosing such an election of such magnitude. Ribadu stayed on in ACN and still followed those who betrayed him into APC after the merger. But times have indeed changed. A politician must and should remain relevant in the scheme of things. In the new APC politics of today, the likes of Ribadu have no place and relevance so it was expected when Ribadu weighed his options and honourably left the APC that is now widely a Bola Tinubu’s political Empire.
Ribadu’s choice to decamp to the ruling PDP was a very wise choice indeed as he stood the chance of been the Party’s gubernatorial candidate but with his stepping down for other candidates and the emergence of Acting Governor Fintiri, it is now very clear that Ribadu is the clear winner in all of this. The political options of Ribadu are many which includes a Ministerial appointment, Governor in 2015, National Security Adviser, a Vice Presidential Aspirant under PDP in the 2015 elections under PDP, a Presidential Candidate of PDP in 2019 after a Jonathan tenure and several other positions of benefits. Ribadu can even decide to lobby his way back to EFCC to go finish some unfinished business. In all of this, Ribadu is the winner. Tinubu and the APC remain the losers. It’s a win-win situation for Ribadu as President Goodluck Jonathan appreciates Ribadu’s good name and honesty and will most likely oblige him any position he lobbies for. Men like Ribadu are very rare in Nigeria’s political landscape. Ribadu, is therefore, a rare Gem in PDP because of the goodwill and incorruptible virtue he brings into the party. Ribadu will save the ruling party a lot of corruption reputation crisis as he will perform well and clean-up the system if given a sensitive appointment. Ribadu has always been a performer and is one of the greatest asset in PDP’s arsenal as at today. The decamping of Ribadu will also have an effect on other APC stalwarts who have and are being betrayed by Tinubu the Maximum Ruler of APC and might serve as a reference point for more decamping. One thing that is certain is that Ribadu will never be the loser in all of this. Even if Ribadu does not lobby for any Position or Appointment, men of goodwill will still lobby for him. Men like Ribadu get the job done in extraordinary ways.
Deji Adeyanju writes from Abuja and can be contacted on Twitter @adeyanjudej9 or[email protected]