Though the Jigawa State governor is yet to publicly declare his interest in the presidential contest, his body language hints at his favourable disposition towards the idea.
Lamido had told THISDAY recently that he did not consider contesting for the presidential ticket of his party a crime. “I don’t see any crime being committed by people saying that I want to be the President of Nigeria, because it is not a personal office,” he had said.
“Every Nigerian should be able to aspire to that position, provided it is not based on the criteria of tribe, religion or culture. Anybody elected to that position should be a Nigerian president. Every Nigerian has the right to aspire to be the president of this country. Every Nigerian is a presidential material.
“You see, they tend to personalise the presidency and therefore anybody who aspires to become the president is like committing a crime. That office is a national office for all Nigerians and, therefore, should not be appropriated. Anybody can be there.”
On his political plans, Lamido had said, “By my political culture and belief as a Muslim, I would always allow God to be my guide; He has been there for you and me.”
THISDAY gathered from top sources in PDP that Lamido’s body language was already causing concern within the party and the camp of President Goodluck Jonathan. The unease is due to the fact that while Lamido’s aspiration may fail at the PDP presidential primaries, it would upset the party’s game plan of returning Jonathan unopposed or, at least, without any serious contender to the presidential ticket.
A top official of PDP, who preferred anonymity, said, “It is a known fact that the North is seriously contending to the office of the president on the belief that it is their turn and bearing in mind that the All Progressives Congress has narrowed down its ticket to the North. We don’t envisage any contention to President Jonathan, but this Sule Lamido thing will cause a split within the party and this is what we plan to avoid.
“The fear is not that President Jonathan would not defeat Sule Lamido at the presidential primaries, but the ripple effects the presidential primary would have on the party.
“There is this fear that some northern elites, who are already championing that the PDP ticket belongs to the North, could shout blue murder, that the presidential primary was manipulated to suit the incumbent and this could lead to what I would call an unnecessary distraction to the election.”
The source said the thinking within the party was that Lamido should be prevailed upon to jettison his presidential ambition, explaining that elders and traditional rulers, including eminent emirs, are among those to be enlisted in the bid to dissuade Lamido from contesting the presidential primary election.
According to the source, there are also those canvassing that, in the worst-case scenario, the vice presidential ticket should be offered to Lamido to appease him.
The calculations have already taken for granted the support of the governors elected on the platform of PDP, who have pledged their support for Jonathan’s second term in office.
As part of recent fireworks by the supporters of Jonathan and Lamido, Nigerians have been inundated with campaigns in both the electronic and print media, focusing on the various achievements of both men.
Typically, the advertisements in favour of the president usually list his achievements in the various sectors, including agriculture, education, aviation, health and road networks, among other sectors, and are signed off by the Transformation Agenda of Nigeria (TAN).
TAN’s advertisements allude to how United States’ President Barack Obama, former South Africa of President, late Nelson Mandela, and the former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, transformed their countries, concluding that Jonathan is carrying out the same transformation in Nigeria.
Similarly, Lamido’s campaigners have been airing a 30-minute documentary of how Obama and Mandela transformed their countries through purposeful, focused and qualitative leadership, concluding that Lamido is doing the same in Jigawa State.
In the 30-minute documentary, Lamido’s campaigners interject it with quotes from Mandela and former Nigeria’s Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who expressed satisfaction with the transformation of Jigawa State.
THISDAY gathered that the advertorials by the supporters of the president and the governor were just a rehearsal for the presidential primaries as both of them prepare to square off to secure the PDP ticket.
However, the national publicity secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, said the party had guidelines for its presidential primaries, which had not yet been released. He said PDP was at the moment concerned with building internal democracy within the party.
Metuh further said that issues of primaries in the party will commence in August, after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Source: Thisday