By Madu Onuorah
The much-expected coalition Nigerians have been anxiously waiting for may be stillborn despite their application to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for registration as a political party under the name All Democratic Alliance (ADA).
The group had appointed coordinators for six geopolitical zones – former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for North East; former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El Rufai for North West; former Senate President David Mark for North Central; former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi for South East; and former Governors of Rivers and Osun States – Rotimi Amaechi and Rauf Aregbesola for South South and South West respectively.
But despite all this, Global Upfront Newspapers (GUN) gathered exclusively that the coalition is not yet a bird in hand because of the scheming and mutual distrust among the leading gladiators.
Atiku is hinging his faith on the alliance on getting Peter Obi to be his running mate, but this thinking is against the tide of zoning which puts political power in the South for eight years after the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. El-Rufai and Amaechi are scheming to use the alliance to reactivate their 2023 Presidential ambition in the All Progressive Congress (APC) that was truncated by the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
The duo had planned to run together in 2023 in the hope that Buhari would endorse Amaechi but it failed. Amaechi’s other option is to run with Atiku if Obi refuses, but the Atiku camp is not enthusiastic about him, given their bad experience with former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa when they brought a periphery Igbo from the South South in the absence of a viable candidate from the South East.
Peter Obi is also in the alliance but he is not ready to disappoint his numerous supporters across the country, especially among the youthful population who don’t want him to play any underdog role given the effort he has put into his politics and the public rating of the situation in the country which fits him for President more than anyone today. Besides, it is widely believed that zoning, capacity, and better knowledge of the situation are in his favour.
A source deep within the ADA Alliance group told GUN that this marriage is being contracted with parties holding back a lot for the D-Day that may never come.
According to the source, everything about the alliance’s success or failure rests on where they are zoning the Presidency to. If it’s not zoned to the South, many believe that it will be stillborn because that is where the majority of political watchers are expecting the pendulum to move to.
Also trying to use APC template of 2014 that everybody should come for primaries and whoever gets it goes with the second person from the opposite zone going for running mate, is not receiving much support because of the inherent corruption that will lead to the highest bidder and may even create room for the ruling party to infiltrate and hijack the alliance.
Many political watchers monitoring the collation who spoke to GUN were unanimous that greed and ambition fueled by distrust will kill the dream because the top players are insincere to themselves and are not ready to live up to their motto of justice for all.
“If you are forming a new political party that is claiming that it’s coming to right the wrong, and your motto is justice for all and you are not honest and courageous to address injustice, how do you expect to be taken seriously by the people?” GUN source remarked.
