Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on the National Social Investment Programme to President Muhammadu Buhari and a member of the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Ismaeel Buba Ahmed, has revealed why the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, will win next year’s election.
According to the former Youth Leader and Spokesperson of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) cannot succeed Buhari.
Speaking to Sunday Sun, the APC chieftain stated that Peter Obi, Kwankwaso, and Atiku do not pose a threat to the presidential ambition of Bola Tinubu.
He, however, stated that the 2023 election will be exciting, adding that none of the presidential candidates will be underestimated.
While insisting that no one will be dismissed, Ismaeel Ahmed stated that he regards every presidential candidate as a threat until after the election.
On PDP’s Atiku Abubakar
He said the PDP has been around since 1998 as the oldest political party in terms of name and logo which have remained the same.
Ahmed said: “As the oldest political party, they have governed this country for 16 years. The PDP candidate has contested multiple times. He has been vice president for eight years and has gone through several political battles as well.
“We gave him a platform in 2007 to run. We gave him another platform in 2015 against Buhari, who defeated him at the primary. Taking into account that PDP has a structure with a veteran politician as a candidate, we have respect and look forward to a fair fight.”
On NNPP’s Rabiu Kwankwaso
Buhari’s aide described the NNPP candidate as a formidable political personality as well, however, adding that Kwankwaso’s political party is relatively new.
He said: “He (Kwankwaso) does not have a formidable political structure across the country as a new party. He is not somebody we can dismiss easily.”
On Peter Gregory Obi
Ismaeel Buba Ahmed admitted that the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi is the new kid on the block for many people on social media.
He described the LP candidate as someone mysterious and difficult to understand, stressing that what people say about him on social media, is not exactly what he hears when Peter Obi talks.
The APC chieftain said: “I have listened to him a couple of times. He is an enigma to me. What people say about him on social media, is not exactly what I hear when he talks. I don’t see that substance that a lot of people seem to be gravitating toward him.
“Some people say he is a Southeast candidate. Some people say he is a religious candidate. I don’t believe that. I think he is a man of his own. But his political party does not have the spread and structure on the ground.
“He does not know many people across the country. He does not have political relationships across the country, and no formidable player in the political field, stumping for him. Like others, we are not going to dismiss him. But I don’t see him posing a threat like that.”
Bola Tinubu’s Structure
According to Ahmed, the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu is formidable with structure by every strand of imagination, “but I don’t want to sound cocky, overconfident, or condescending.
“As a member of the PCC, my job is to solicit votes. Sometimes the best you do is to appear weak when you need people to help you. So, we need people’s support. What we are saying is that our candidate is better.”