Umaru Musa Yar Adua

Buhari: The Soldier-Democrat
Since he lost the battle to have the Supreme Court reverse the result of the 2003 presidential election in his favour, the Daura, Katsina State-born General who in 1983 occupied Dodan Barracks as the country’s head of government, after the coup that toppled the government of President Shehu Shagari, the be-spectacled and lanky soldier has continued in his dogged fight to lead the 150 million-strong West African country.
Recently described by President Obasanjo as a serial loser, the one-time Minister of Petroleum, however, has a track record of public probity, which on many occasions pitted him against his political associates, with their fear premised on the notion that given the necessary authority, Buhari who is known to have zero-tolerance for corruption, may use such against his benefactors.
The one-time Military Administrator of North eastern State is often painted by his critics as a religious bigot, because of his alleged support for the Islamic legal code, sharia and his once widely publicised statement that Muslims should not vote for non-muslims. Although events after 2003 have overtaken whatever religious sentiment is attached to this ‘unguarded’ statement, there are, indeed, indications that many Nigerians now see Buhari beyond a myopic religious prims, an astute and consistent democrat who is now at the fore-front of the fight against graft and corruption in the country.
Ironically, his political associates in the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), which provided all the logistics and political support that nearly saw him clinch the presidency in the 2003 elections, have seemingly mellowed down the unwavered platform, but the former chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) is more resolute in his resolve to govern Nigeria in a civilian garb, having done so for the first time in 1983 in a military set-up.
One of the main reasons why he wants to rule the country is perhaps to save it from what he calls ‘slide to fascism’, as he emphasised during a meeting with presidential contenders penultimate week.
Buhari: “We all know how we walked into this sordid faux pas, we are witnesses to how one man assumed the mesianic toga, became impervious to advice, embarked on all manners of experiments, disobeyed court orders and squandered the enormous goodwill of the people and abundant material resources.”
In case Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), sweeps next week’s presidential polls, the former head of state would have matched President Obasanjo’s record of ruling the nation twice-both as a military Head of State and as a civilian president.

Atiku: The Dogged Fighter
In his resolve to succeed his boss as the next occupier of Aso Rock, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the sitting vice president who hails from Adamawa State is, perhaps, the most popular litigant in the nation’s march to transit from one civilian administration to the other. If victory in court is a factor that determines who wins during elections, the nation’s number two man may as well go home and rest, waiting to be sworn-in on May 29, 2007.
Incidentally, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) house, which he once helped to build as one of its founding fathers, has turned out to be his albatross when he needed their support most to achieve his life-long ambition. The raging crisis of confidence between him and President Obasanjo, which stemmed out from the 2003 elections and later the PTDF saga, have made the former Customs officer one of the most controversial and probably the most publicised Vice Presidents in the nation’s short political history.
To the president, who is believed to be the most important factor regarding who succeeds him in office, his estranged confidant is over ambitious and should be barred by every means possible from becoming the president of the nation’s fledging democracy.
To this end, the president and the ruling PDP may have disposed the entire machinery of state to checkmate their estranged political associates from achieving their aim, as events in the past few weeks have shown that, perhaps, Atiku could be barred from contesting, no matter the plethora of court rulings in his favour. Whether he is finally allowed to contest, or not, Atiku contrary to the perceptions by people that occupy the Abuja seat of power, is to many Nigerians a generous, kind and charismatic politician whose popularity is beyond ethnic boundaries and religious sentiments. The Action Congress (AC) presidential candidate is perhaps, the most popular candidate of all the contenders, as indicative of the mammoth crowd he pulls during his campaign forays across the country.
The alleged fears in many quarters especially among power brokers in Abuja, may not be unconnected with the fact that should he be allowed to contest the nation’s most coveted office, the Adamawa-born politician may eventually be shoulder high above the PDP candidate, who incidentally is believed to be the leader of People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), one of the main political groups in the PDP once headed by Musa Yar’Adua, elder brother of the PDP candidate.
But the bulky personage who would have occupied the Yola Government House in 1999 as governor, having won election to that position before a call to answer a higher national duty, believes that his role in the botched third term saga is responsible for the crisis of confidence between him and his boss. To him, therefore, he is fighting the fight of his life to achieve his inalienable franchise - the right to vote and be voted for. Notwithstanding, it must have dawned on him that the younger sibling of his late political mentor, Shehu Yar’Adua, has been anointed to succeed the incumbent.
Inspite of the glaring reality that he may be barred from contesting, the vice president has repeatedly argued that the power to decide his fate lies with the Nigerian people, who should be allowed to freely exercise their electoral right come April 21.
Atiku: “Fellow compatriots, you must stand up for your rights, defend your freedom by all lawful means. It is your right to freely chose your leaders. Nobody can take that away from you. Nobody should foist a leader on you. We must resist all self perpetuation shame.”

Okotie: From Pulpit to Politics
Nigerians cannot forget in a jiffy the claim by Reverend Chris Okotie, the Pastor of Household of God Church, that God had ‘ordained’ him to win the 2003 presidential election. But whether or not that claim was truly a divine one is left to the imagination.
Okotie trained as a lawyer, but before he graduated from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, he ventured into music and became renowned as the jerry-curled pop musician. A few years after, the eloquent and suave ‘Man of God’ took up job in God's sanctuary in an avowed mission to win souls for the creator.
To many Nigerians, the fact that his acclaimed prophesy on the journey to the 2003 elections did not come to pass is enough grounds not to take him serious this time around. But the Delta State-born clergyman and his followers have discountenanced whatever wrong perceptions cynics have against him, forging ahead in a bid to see that he stops at nothing to realise his God-ordained victory in his second shot at the presidential polls.
Okotie is from one of the Niger Delta States, Delta and even though the region has of recent become volatile as a result of the strident clamour by indigenes of the area to govern the country at the highest level, the presidential candidate of FRESH (Faith, Responsibility, Equality, Security and Hope) party, however, sees himself more as a unifier and symbol of national cohesion than a sectarian political chauvinist.
According to him, the nation is presently held hostage by the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba) which he said, have dominated the leadership of the country to the detriment of other small ethnic minorities.
Pastor Okotie has great conviction that he stands a better chance of beating other contenders in the presidential race in the game of politicking. He may not be wrong judging from an opinion poll conducted by one of the country’s media orgainisations, Silverbird television, which ranked the lanky clergyman ahead of others.
But many Nigerians are cynical of the Pastor’s mission to rule his fatherland. They are not particularly at home with the way he carries himself as a politician, when actually there are many works for him to do in the Lord’s vineyard.

Pat Utomi: The Man from the Academia
If Nigeria is like those countries in the West, where victory at the polls is issue-based and more or less premised on a candidate’s ability to address contemporary issues of governance, Professor Patrick Okekinachi Utomi, former chairman of Platinum Bank and a director of the Lagos Business School would not bother himself trying to rally Nigerians against alleged attempts by the ruling PDP to manipulate the April 21 presidential election, rather he would be rest assured that victory is already his.
The presidential candidate of the newly registered African Democratic Congress (ADC), is one of the few fresh faces in the presidential contest. Apart from his enviable record in management and academic excellence, the light-complexioned and be-spectacled academic, is one of the few presidential candidates who, perhaps, has a germaine idea of what the country’s problems are, and a clear-cut vision of possible ways to transform the problematic economic environment.
For the former banker, Nigerians are unfortunate people who are paying for the sins of their past and present leaders in the quest to galvanise the nation’s resources to their private use, while the populace live in poverty in the midst of plenty.
To many Nigerians, someone like Utomi is best suited to rule the country at this time in her quest to promote accountability and probity in governance. But unfortunately, the Ibusa, Delta State-born businessman-turned politician, may have fallen into the trap set by his detractors by trying to play the ethnic card in his desperate resolve to rule the country by every means possible. Recently, the South-south Peoples Assembly (SSPA) endorsed the ADC presidential contender to represent the region. According to the SSPA, having failed in their bid to secure the PDP ticket for two sons of the soil - Governors Peter Odili and Obong Victor Attah - they are putting their weight behind the most credible last man standing to secure a better bargain for the region in the country’s political calculus.
For a man “who left all his businesses and career to serve the people of Nigeria,” the current political landscape may, perhaps, not be conducive enough to accommodate his likes. Politics and politicking in present day Nigeria are basically for ‘rugged,’ crafty politicians and money bags who can weather the storm when the chips are finally down.

Ajuwa: The Bridge Builder
The presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy(AD), is a man with a large heart. An Ijaw from the Niger Delta, he is not a new comer in Nigeria’s political terrain, having had a shot as a presidential aspirant during the “still born” Third Republic on the platform of the National Republican Convention (NRC). He carried his aspiration to the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), before fate dawned on him to become the presidential flagbearer of the Alliance for Democracy, a party hitherto dominated by Yorubas of the South West, after the death of Chief Adebayo Adefarati, its standard bearer in the 2007 polls.
According to the National Chairman of the party, Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa, Ajuwa accepted to be the AD candidate because of his love for Nigeria people.
“It is not the paraphernalia of the office of the president that is important to him because he is comfortable and well connected. His mission is to build a great Nigeria,” Akinfenwa said.
Charismatic, suave and articulate, Ajuwa’s voice would better be heard, if the INEC postpones the presidential election slated for April 21, 2007 by one week as requested by the leadership of the Alliance for Democracy to enable its presidential candidate tour the six geo-political zones of the country to enable him spread his message.
According to the presidential candidate, while being presented to the public, “I am here to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.”

Odumegwu-Ojukwu:Heroic Rebel
He became an household name throughout the country during the Nigerian civil war that lasted between 1967 and 1970. Indeed, the history of Nigeria will never be complete without mentioning his name, as he had to carry the burden of being a leader by fleeing the country when he realised that the federal troops led by General Yakubu Gowon were set to cripple his Biafra Republic.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA),presidential candidate tasted life in exile, in neighbouring Cote’d Ivoire, then known as Ivory Coast, before he was granted presidential pardon during the first term of Alhaji Shehu Shargari’s presidency in the second republic. As expected, he joined the party in power then (National Party of Nigeria), and attempted to represent his senatorial district in the Senate during the 1983 general elections, but lost out.
Born with a sliver spoon by a wealthy merchant from Nnewi, whose compound has become a tourist attraction, Ojukwu had the opportunity of attending one of the best universities in England, Oxford.
Stubborn, rugged, but knowledgeable, with Queen’s English accent, the fear that he might want to re-enact his Biafra agenda remains his major undoing. That is, perhaps, why his popularity is limited to the Igbo-speaking states, where his party was victorious in one state and might ‘capture’ more in the April elections.
Political observers are of the view that Ojukwu, who has been disturbed by Hausa/Fulani domination of Nigerian leadership, might want to actualise his dream, if he is entrusted with the presidency. This, they reason, is why the clamour for Igbo presidency is not realisable for now. But at 70-plus, Ojukwu’s hub-nobbing with Major-general Muhammadu Buhari could earn him a prestigious position that would enable him contribute to national development should Buhari win.

Orji Uzor Kalu: The Beautiful Bride
The presidential candidate of Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) is, perhaps, the most controversial governor in the eastern part of Nigeria. Simple, enterprising and outspoken, Kalu had excelled in business long before going into politics.
At age 25, he was the chairman of Borno Water Board, and became the chairman, Co-operative and Commerce Bank at the age of 27. All these prepared the grounds for a rosy career in politics. So, when he served as a member, House of Representatives between 1992 and 1993, it was not surprising that he held two key positions, at the committee level.
The simplicity in him is immediately noticed in his mode of dressing, as he rarely wears English suits, nor babariga to exhibit his stature and position in the society.
So, when he became governor of Abia State in 1999, at the age of 39, he never found things difficult, as he was treading on familiar terrain. Before he parted ways with President Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. President once described him as The Action Governor of Nigeria.
But because there is no permanent friend in politics, the relationship between him and President Obasanjo today, could best be likened to that of water and fire. At the initial stage of the disagreement, a part of his business interest, Slok Airline was grounded by boardroom politics.
Enormously wealthy, with interest in publishing, manufacturing, oil and telecommunications, the PPA, as a platform, might not fetch Kalu the presidency, but he might use it to negotiate with the leading opposition party, for a post-2007 role.
He is seen by many as a “talkative” governor. During a Grand House Reception organised for him by Niteshift Coliseum in 2003, in Lagos, he said, “I can afford to buy anything money can buy on earth.”

Attahiru Bafarawa:From the Caliphate
The presidential candidate of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), started his sojourn in politics as far back as 1976, when he was elected as councillor, but later got elevated to the post of Vice – Chairman, Isa Local Government Council in the same year.
Since then, he has taken to politics as a career, promising to rise to the topmost position in Nigeria without looking back. But little is known about him in the entire Southern part of Nigeria. Thus, political observers believe he might have to try his luck again in 2011. This is because he is not seen among the front runners like Yar’Adua and Buhari, in this part of the country.
The former chairman of the National Republican Convention (NRC), in Sokoto State during the “still born” Third Republic and National Vice Chairman of the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP), during the Abacha era, and a founding member of APP and ANPP is perceived as a disloyal party man. This is because he was Chairman, Caretaker Committee, ANPP who steered the party until its last convention that produced Buhari as the presidential flag bearer in 2003.
Political observers see the defection of the presidential candidate to DPP as a desperate move in pursuit of a vaulting personal ambition. But as Bafarawa himself told the audience at Government House, Owerri, the Imo State capital during his campaigns there, he was simply following the foot-steps of his “brother, Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
Bafarawa, who claims to have been a wealthy businessman before he became governor in 1999, and who was described as prudent and God-fearing by President Obasanjo, pursues his ambition with the philosophical inclination that only Allah endorses a worthy venture.