In a bid to become president of Nigeria, presidential aspirants in the past had promised to spend one term in office if elected but none kept the promise.
A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is one of the presidential aspirants for the forthcoming election in 2019 and like many desperate aspirants before him, has pledged to serve for only one term in office, if elected.This promise, many political pundits say, is usually borne out of desperation as Nigerians have seen that it is usually broken towards the tail end of the first term in office.
Many Nigerians are skeptical about Atiku’s one term promise not because it is Atiku but because similar promises were not honoured in the past by political leaders who made them. In 2011, for instance, the then president, Goodluck Jonathan and current president, Muhammadu Buhari who were also aspirants then, both promised to serve for only one term if elected. Jonathan was in a difficult position because of the zoning principle of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which favoured a northern candidate. There was reportedly a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he would run for only one term.
Prominent party leaders like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who went against the zoning formula of the party backed Jonathan on the condition that he would spend one term in office. In 2015, Jonathan reneged on his promise and threw his hat into the ring. As a result, he lost the support of the North and also one of his biggest supporters, Obasanjo.
Jonathan’s one term promise was revealed in a book titled “Against the Run of play: How an incumbent President was defeated in Nigeria,” written by Segun Adeniyi, Chairman, Editorial Board of ThisDay. Jonathan in that book, admitted that there was indeed a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he was going to do just one term and leave office but had to change his mind because “You can make a political promise and change your mind, so long as it is within the law.
“The ex-President added, “I had made a proposition for a single term of seven years. That was the context in which I spoke in Addis Ababa that if the idea was accepted, I would not run again.
“It was not in the context of a second term of four years. Of course, at that period, the issue of one term was brought several times at different meetings and some people took it upon themselves to pledge on my behalf but I never said I was going to spend only one term… the question was always usually randomly asked and I never made any such commitment to anybody.”
But a former Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, disagreed with Jonathan’s assertions. He said, “As chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, I recall having to remind him of the commitment he made to us in 2010 before we supported his bid to contest.
Aliyu was also quoted in the same book to have said, “In one of my meetings with him, I suggested he could even choose any credible PDP man he wanted from the north and such person did not have to be among the governors. One day, he would agree to the idea, another day, he would say something else.” Buhari, who currently occupies the seat of power made that same promise in 2011.
In an interview with Daily Trust, he pledged that he would not seek re-election after one term if he became president. Buhari was asked: “Why did you say you will do just one term, if elected?” And he replied “I’m not getting younger. If I succeed and do one term, I will be 73 years old.” He added: “If you are doing just one term, you may want to urgently do some things.” No doubt, Buhari has toed the path of his predecessor, Jonathan by seeking re-election in 2019.
Today, as Atiku seeks support for his presidential ambition in the 2019 election, he has decided to make that same mouth watering promise to Nigerians. He will be contesting for the PDP’s ticket with several other contenders, and the stakes are high.
But unlike other aspirants who have signified interest for the plum job, this is not the first time that Atiku is aspiring for that position. He was a presidential aspirant under the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in 1993 but lost the candidacy to the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
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In 2007, he was the presidential candidate of Action Congress but lost the main election to the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. That was his first and last time of being a presidential candidate. In 2011, he was a member of the PDP. He lost the party’s presidential primary election to Jonathan. He later dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress APC in 2013 in order to realize his dream of becoming president. He contested the party’s primary and came third behind Buhari and Kwankwaso.
Last year, Atiku went back to the PDP for the second time which now makes some political analysts label him ‘a serial defector.’ This time around, he has vowed to spend only one term in office if given the chance to rule. He has even gone a step higher than the rest by promising to sign an undertaking.
“If I am elected as the President in 2019, I give an undertaking that I would only do one term. Having said that, let me remind Nigerians that Buhari also gave such an undertaking in 2011, but he is not living up to it today. My own case will be different. I am prepared to sign an undertaking to do only one term,” he declared in a media chat.
But since Atiku made that declaration, many Nigerians have reacted in different ways. A social commentator, Bewaji Abayomi, wrote on Twitter that “We don’t need him to sign any agreement. He should not make promises he is not going to fulfill. If God says he will be our president and go for a second term so be it. That’s my point. We all know all these politicians and their empty promises.”
Meanwhile, a group called Youths for Atiku are of the view that Buhari not keeping his word of one term does not meant Atiku would break his own promise. The group on Twitter wrote: “Buhari never said he will sign an agreement with Nigerians. Atiku has opted and agreed to sign an agreement with Nigerians. Power belongs to God. Atiku is a man of his words. What he says he will do, he does.”
In the same vein, Grace Okagbara, DG Atiku Diaspora Network,. assured Nigerians that her boss, Atiku will keep his promise. She wrote on twitter: “The more you know about my principal, the more you love him. He is a man of his words. He is not Buhari who could not keep his promises.”
But as Atiku battles for the ticket of the PDP, Nigerians will keep their fingers crossed while watching with keen interest to see if the Turakin Adamawa will keep to his one term promise if he gets elected.
