2. Atiku Abubakar
Born in 1946, Atiku served as the second democratic vice president of Nigeria under the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007. Atiku has never made his plan to become the president of Nigeria secret as he has been on it since 1992 when he participated in the presidential primary election of the Social Democratic Party which was eventually won by Moshood Abiola. As vice president, Atiku grew very strong up to a point where it was reported that he was threatening the re-election of Obasanjo as president for a second term in 2003. According to report, Obasanjo wanted to drop Atiku as his running mate in 2003 (perhaps due to the latter’s growing strength) but was forced to reconsider the decision after it was evident that the Atiku was going to launch his presidential bid and contest in the Peoples Democratic Party primary elections which could lead to Obasanjo losing the support of the northern caucus.
Perhaps as a testimony of his growth and strength, Atiku contested as president under the platform of Action Congress in 2007 but lost the election to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The Adamawa-born politician returned to the PDP in 2011 but lost the party’s presidential ticket to eventual winner, Goodluck Jonathan. He left the party for the All Progressives Congress but also lost the party’s primary election to eventual winner, Muhammadu Buhari. There is no doubt that the septuagenarian is still pursuing his dream of becoming Nigeria’s president someday.
Discussion about this post