Presidential Elections: 4-way horse race possible unto the end

Presidential Elections: 4-way horse race possible unto the end

Signs that the ongoing presidential race might remain a four-way horse race have emerged.

Thus far, four parties are in strong contention for the presidential seat. They are the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The others are the Labour Party, LP, and the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP.

Until Labour and the NNPP emerged, the PDP and the APC were the most dominant parties.

Many political analysts and experienced politicians say despite the hype, Atiku who is talking about a merger arrangement probably needs it more.

This view is supported by strategists within the PDP who reckon that Atiku needs to strike a deal with either Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso or Peter Obi before February 25th, 2023.

They say such a monumental deal will be absolutely necessary in order to stop Tinubu, Atiku’s major rival, from winning.

Atiku Abubakar, flagbearer of the PDP had raised popular hopes about a possible merger when he spoke to the BBC Hausa Service.

The candidate said, “I see no threat because we are not together with them (Kwankwaso and Obi). We are in talk(s) with them, one of them may possibly come.”

The optimism generated by the PDP frontrunner in the nation’s political space has all but evaporated in the face of comments that are coming from the NNPP and LP.

LP and the NNPP which were believed to have been locked in merger talks with the PDP say there are no indications that Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso would bow out of the presidential race.

The separate accounts put in the public space contradict the claim by the presidential flagbearer of the PDP.

Diran Onifade, Head of Media of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council,  said on Wednesday night that the idea that Obi would  step down for any one is an illusion.

“We are not in any talks with Atiku or anyone else with a view to stepping down from a race in which we are the frontrunner.

“Peter Obi is in the contest to win in consonance with the aspiration of majority of Nigerians who desire a New Nigeria devoid of lies, corruption and selfish scheming”, Onifade noted.

Kwankwaso, speaking for himself on Channels Television on Thursday dismissed claims that he has engaged in talks with Atiku.

He said he has not Seen Alhaji Atiku Abubakar since he left the PDP for the NNPP.

“We don’t intend to talk to anybody”, Kwankwaso declared, “We are strong in the North.”

He said he was in the South in search of fives states that are expected to provide the springboard for a great and resounding victory.

This means that the four-way horse race projected right from the start is very likely to hold out as the race enters its final lap.

It is difficult to say who of the four frontrunners would sit in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of power.

All the candidates from the look of things appear to be confident of victory at this time.

In a couple of weeks the picture would become clearer as more and more Nigerians make up their minds on who to support.