The challenges before Nigeria’s next President are not only enormous and daunting, they are indeed burdensome and seemingly intractable. It surely takes an experienced, focused, calm, and detribalised leader to confront them successfully and pull the nation out of the woods.
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These are challenges whose solutions require perseverance and resilience without compromising speed because of the urgency they demand.
Fortunately, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has elected Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections. This is the beauty of democracy. Where it is allowed to thrive, it throws up several options for the people to choose from based on certain criteria, some of which I have already mentioned above.
No doubt, Atiku has the best chance of winning the 2027 election among all the candidates that have emerged so far. His lofty credentials speak for him. From his days as a two-term Vice-President of the country under former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he headed the nation’s economic team at a time Nigeria experienced one of her historic economic boom, to his experience as an entrepreneur and major investor in Nigeria’s economy, Atiku has remained an advocate of peace, progress and prosperity for the people.
Once he climbs the saddle as President of Nigeria come 2027, Atiku will hit the ground running as he will have his work cut out for him. He will need all the focus and energy he can muster to tackle the myriad of challenges affecting the country.
For him to achieve this, the Waziri Adamawa will need a Vice President who understands his role as a VP and possesses the calm, gentle mien and the peaceful disposition of one truly loyal to his Boss. He must avoid picking anyone who has the potential of seeing themselves as a “Co-President,” and being belligerent along the line.
He must look for someone who has sufficiently demonstrated historical fidelity, political stability, and unalloyed loyalty to party and national causes.
This is where Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will need to look towards southeast Nigeria for Senator Augustine Akobundu, the Abia Central Senator, as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
Senator Akobundu is not only experienced in public service having once served as a minister of defence (state), he is an erudite political figure who has served at the highest levels of party politics, and now as a senator whose towering achievements have endeared him to the people.
As an accomplished soldier with several military awards to his name, Senator Akobundu is well equipped to assist the Presidency of Atiku Abubakar to overcome our security challenges.
A serial entrepreneur and employer of labour himself, Senator Austin Akobundu has sufficient practical knowledge of the complexities of the nation’s economy and how to navigate through them in order to help Atiku restore the people to the path of prosperity.
So, as 2027 approaches and the search for a befitting presidential running mate continues, it will be another huge score on political sagacity for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to pick Senator Austin Akobundu, a leading star from southeast Nigeria, as his running mate.
This is the same call that the Presidential Election Protection Taskforce (PEPTAF) is making, and I trust Waziri Adamawa to hearken to the voice of reason from home and abroad.
