Atiku Is ‘Mortally Misplaced At This Moment’ To Be President – Afegbua Insists

Prince Kassim Afegbua, former presidential adviser and one-time Commissioner for Information in Edo State, on Monday, insisted that his former boss, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has become old fashioned to lead the country as president.

Afegbua who dismissed insinuations from some quarters that he had  personal issue against Abubakar, said he has nothing against Atiku except telling him the bitter true that he is not destined to be President of Nigeria.

“Following my interrogation of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s presidential aspiration and the urgent need to cede the nomination of the PDP ticket to the Southern part of Nigeria, the alarm bells have been let loose. Expectedly, I have been called all manner of names and accused wrongly, just to extract a pound of flesh from me for daring to question the rationale for Atiku presidency in 2023 at the age of Methuselah.

“I do not have anything personal against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, but I disagree with his latest resolve at being a professional aspirant or perpetual candidate from 1991 till date. Politics has a process and timing.”

Rather than contest the 2023 presidential election, Afegbua advised the country’s former vice president not to hesitate to contribute his own quota in his capacity as a senior citizen towards the development of the nation.

“Alhaji Atiku is mortally misplaced at this moment. Having put up such a strong showing in 2019, I thought very sensibly, that was the climax of a journey that started in 1990 when he initially aspired to preside over the country with Late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, easily called M.K.O Abiola. Alhaji was in that equation even though at the end of the day, he was prevailed upon to step down for MKO Abiola. And the rest is history.”

In a statement in Abuja on Monday, Afegbua said the age of methuselah in Nigeria politics was no longer fashionable.

Saying the ‘age of methuselah in Nigeria politics, which Atiku belongs to, according to him, was no longer fashionable, he insisted that Nigerians now yearn for younger leadership who is upwardly mobile to preside over the affairs of the nation.

“Nigeria is a plural society with several political interests competing for attention. It is a country of many tribal leanings and clannish configurations. After the EndSars protest and the lukewarm attitude of the current president before he reluctantly addressed the nation, it became obvious that the age of methuselah in Nigeria politics was no longer fashionable.

“Nigerians now yearn for younger leadership who is upwardly mobile to preside over the affairs of the nation, leaders who have the technical ability and managerial acumen to preside over our disparities and ethnicities, and create a balance towards national cohesion and stability. Nigerians are looking forward to welcoming a new dawn in our body.of politics, some.kind of paradigm shift that would.give opportunity to our younger generation to politically assume a pride of place in the scheme of things.’’

The former spokesman of Atiku said for stability and good governance to be achieved in Nigeria, there must be a rejection of travelling the road of the aged.

“President Buhari has not helped matters. He has raised very curious remarks about the sanctity of travelling the road of the aged. Aside from being taciturn, president Buhari is not creative and result-driven. His go-slow style has affected our reading of the older generations who appear unwilling to quit the stage while the ovation is still loud. Buhari’s standoffish attitude and leadership weakness has become Atiku’s albatross. President Buhari has pointedly declared that at 79, working 6 to 8 hours daily is no joke, reason why it will be an exercise in self-destruct to chart the course of an Atiku post Buhari era’’.

He urged Atiku to honourably quit the stage for others to try their luck.

“From 1990 till date, Atiku Abubakar has featured in our politics at regular intervals. Remove 32 years away from Alhaji Atiku’s age; you will readily see the beauty.of a young man who got involved at such a middle age to seek the presidency of the country. After 32 years, he should honourably quit the stage for others to try their luck. That is the beauty of life’s evolutionary process. Seeking for that same position which he sought for in 1990 at this age and time is like performing a surgical operation with a blunt scalpel. His closest was the 2019 experience. Bookmakers said he won the election, but INEC thought otherwise.’’

Afegbua lamented how Atiku vanished to thin air after the 2019 presidential election.

“After the 2019 election, when the dust of that election had not settled when tempers were still high and emotions were still boiling, Alhaji Atiku simply vanished to thin air. He was nowhere to be seen. His next address was Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. When the party members wanted to see him, they had to travel to Dubai. The tribunal came, and Alhaji was nowhere near the courts. Imagine how it would have been seeing him with his Lawyers inside the courtroom, it would have given a sense of motivation and encouragement to all the factors that participated in that election. We waited, kept our eyes on the road, thinking he would join us. Alas!! He was away in the comfort zone of Dubai’s architectural wonders while we remained here in Nigeria like orphans or fatherless children. The tribunal case ended on a loss note. That was to mark another evolutionary watershed in the history of electoral petitions in Nigeria. But in all of the actions, Alhaji Atiku was absent.”