Those Who Undermined Jonathan's Campaign

Since the last presidential elections were held, there have been rumours that President Goodluck Jonathan lost the electoral contest due to betrayal from his own party men in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  who allegedly worked against his success at the poll.

To get to the root of the matter, Nigerian Pilot has spent the last several weeks combing the political terrain, asking questions and getting answers, including drawing telling inferences from their findings. The report below (edited) has the full names of individuals and groups that betrayed Jonathan.

1. Adamu Mu’azu: The PDP Chairman claimed to be the “game changer”, many PDP members now wonder if Mu’azu did not really lead the party to change its fortunes. Mu’azu never went the extra mile to ensure Jonathan wins, even in his own ward as reports had it that he never displayed Jonathan’s posters anywhere near his home. Even some PDP youth groups that visited Bauchi on sensitisation were given cold reception by Mu’azu when they met him in Bauchi.

“He never shared in the Jonathan second term dream. He remained committed to the northern elders’ agenda of winning the presidential poll. It showed all over him. Did you hear him campaign against APC and Buhari throughout the period. He was just there just like that,” said a serving minister in the Jonathan cabinet.

2. Anyim Pius Anyim: He is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. But as a key appointee of Jonathan, he played critical roles in the buildup to the elections in terms of appointments to the Campaign Council and such relevant roles. However, many PDP leaders swear that Anyim betrayed his principal, given the contracts he allegedly got from the electoral superintendent, INEC.

3. Ahmadu Ali: A former PDP National Chairman, Senator Ahmadu Ali is very old and far past his prime for any political mobilisation.  Many are still wondering how come Jonathan trusted him for the strategic position he held in the presidential campaign organisation that tried to market Jonathan to the electorate.
However, not a few watchers hold the view that for members of Jonathan’s presidential campaign like Ali, they saw their appointments as “business as usual.”  He ended up enriching himself at the expense of Jonathan’s campaign.

4. Chief Bode George: No one can really tell what role this supposed PDP leader was to play, especially in the South-West axis of the party while the campaigns lasted. One fact, however, was that he was not effective, never seen and allegedly worked behind the scene to undermine the party and its interests. Babatunde Gbadamosi, a PDP governorship aspirant in Lagos took to his Face Book page with a series of posts slandering George of colluding with the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to ensure PDP’s defeat.

5. Governor Babangida Aliyu: He is the Governor of Niger State and prides himself in being called the Chief Servant. As chairman of Northern Governors Forum, Aliyu was ostensibly prepared to undermine the Jonathan second term bid. A master of double-speak, many point to the fact that the governor was “APC in Niger State and PDP in Abuja.” Those who hold this view point to the fact that there was no visible Jonathan campaign poster in his state while the campaigns lasted; a role that the state governor ought to have effectively played.

6. Governor Sule Lamido: He is the governor of Jigawa State and co-traveller with Governor Aliyu in all their exploits and plots to undermine Jonathan from PDP to APC and back to PDP. Lamido is well schooled in the art of political manipulations to the extent that he was able to hoodwink an unsuspecting Jonathan into trusting him to deliver his state and influence same in the North. For example, he visited Jonathan several times, vowing to work for the success of his bid. None of his promises was fulfilled.

7. Governor Ibrahim Shema: He is the Governor of Katsina State and supposedly an ardent Jonathan supporter. Early in the President’s first term, there was no doubt about his loyalty. But Shema allegedly jumped ship when his scheming to get Jonathan pick him as his running mate in the 2015 rerun bid failed.
He was said to have employed the Governor Aliyu strategy in undermining Jonathan; being APC at home and PDP in Abuja.

8. Governor Isa Yuguda: He is the governor of Bauchi State. Analysts wonder why Jonathan would trust Yuguda, a well known APC-at-heart politician to deliver his state to him. His antecedents in the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, which fused into the APC and his reach-outs to the APC are well known among PDP leaders.

9. Other PDP Governors in the core North: All the PDP governors from the core North, as well as candidates of PDP for various elective offices did not openly identify with Jonathan during the electioneering. While it is common to see APC candidates juxtaposing Muhammadu Buhari’s pictures in their posters, PDP candidates from the North never did same with Jonathan’s pictures.

10. Ex-IGP Suleiman Abba: He was until last week, the Inspector-General of Police. As the chief policeman, Abba was expected to ensure adequate security and confidence in the electoral process where no molestation, intimidation nor violation of the process in any way must prevail. But all that was jettisoned for alleged romance with the opposition party while he turned his eyes away from alleged fraud that took place in parts of the country. After the polls too, his overt hobnobbing with the leadership of the incoming ruling party underscored the unprofessional role he caused the police to play during the poll.

11. Chief Tony Anenih: He is the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT). By that role, he leads the committee of eggheads of the party. They are the conscience of the party in spite of the fact that their role is largely advisory. Popularly known as “Mr. Fix It”, Anenih could not fix Jonathan’s second term bid this time around. Many party watchers argue that age is no longer friendly to the one-time mass mobiliser.

12. Prof Rufai Alkali: The case of the Political Adviser to the President may not be correctly described as betrayal but rather that of a round peg in square hole. It is on record that the Political Adviser, who is supposed to be a chief strategist in the presidential campaign, is one politician who has never won any election in his life, apart from when he was nominated to become the National Publicity Secretary of PDP in 2008. As sitting PDP spokesman he was involved in the ticket for senatorial seat and lost. He contested for the governorship ticket of PDP and lost. Finally, he contested for PDP national chairmanship and lost. He came back to limelight when he was appointed Political Adviser to the President. With his antecedents, what else would anyone expect if not catastrophic outing?

13. Retired military Generals: Perhaps because of the need to buoy the chances of one of their ilk, non-serving military Generals whom Jonathan had never batted an eyelid to show his benevolence to whenever the need arose chose to back Buhari and his APC. From Theophilus Danjuma, through Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar to Olusegun Obasanjo, there was an unwritten consensus that Buhari was it. Like the typical soldiers that they remain, they successfully held their plan close to their chests save for the typical Obasanjo persona. The latter made his position very obvious ahead of the poll, while Babangida, who almost made same mistake, dribbled Nigerians to look the other side. Put together, this community betrayed Jonathan despite their promises to him.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan appointed former Governor of Anambra State,Mr Peter Obi, as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.