[OPINION] Peter Obi’s VP Candidate: An appraisal

Yusuf Dattj Baba-Ahmed has an intimidating profile. His résumé is jaw-dropping, especially considering that he is just 46. Getting on a presidential ticket with Peter Obi, they make a Dream Team.
But…
Before we get to the good governance this team promises to deliver, there is one little aspect that has to do with winning an election.
If the voting public on election day would be made up of only the man in Maitama and the woman in Lekki, Obi and Datti can be sworn in already. But this is far from the reality.
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed is elite. As elite as they come. And this blessing can become his curse.
The Northern Muslim voting bloc, the reason for which he is being picked for the VP role, doesn’t vote for elites. Their political elite only become elite AFTER getting into office. Go and verify.
From the legislator who finds it difficult composing sentences in English Language to the President of the Senate himself.
This is why Buhari was presented in 2015 as one who can’t even afford his own form. That’s why Atiku will always tell stories of his humble background in Jada.
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed’s privilege denies him this privilege.
Political parties pick election winners. If this election winner happens to be one that can also bring good governance, God be praised. Like the PDP did with Atiku.
The APC knew in 2015 that Buhari was an election winner. They knew his administrative and communication skills were subzero. At each stop during the campaigns they didn’t let him speak for up to 2 minutes. And they shielded him from the media. But he could win them the election, so they stuck with him. It was when he couldn’t appoint Ministers six months after he was sworn in that Nigerians realised they had entered one-chance.
Datti is amazing. But is he an election winner?
Datti ran for President in 2019 on the platform of the PDP. At the primaries he scored the least number of votes. He got 5 votes. Even David Mark who wasn’t serious with that election got 35 votes. Datti got just 5.
After the 2022 PDP primaries I was hoping Wike would become Atiku’s running mate. He is an election winner. But Atiku looked beyond the election. With Wike on his ticket there would have been a repeat of what happened in 2003.
With MKO Abiola’s demise and the whole June 12 saga, the Yorubas needed to be appeased. So the presidency in 1999 was given to the South West. But Obasanjo wasn’t the choice of the Yorubas. That choice was Olu Falae. OBJ came with the imprimatur of very powerful Northern generals. He was, in a manner of speaking, a Northern choice. Stories flew of the existence of an agreement for him to have just one term and handover to Atiku in 2003.
But OBJ decided he wanted a 2nd term in 2003. And he wasn’t going to run with Atiku. Ahmed Makarfi who was governor of Kaduna state was touted to take Atiku’s place as VP. Atiku who was a very powerful VP decided he would run for President against OBJ and pull with him the northern support that had brought OBJ to power. It is said that when OBJ calculated how he would lose out if this happened, he came and begged Atiku to reconsider. The rest is history. They ran with that winning ticket again and won again.
Atiku doesn’t want his episode with OBJ happening again with him as president and Wike as the powerful VP.
I digress.
Politicians calculate winning an election first before anything. I doubt Peter Obi is doing this. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed will be great as VP but what election winning prowess is he bringing to the table?
If Obi and Baba-Ahmed can pull this off and get victory I will be happy. If it can be done. A very big IF.
Labour Party should not hope Nigerians see how good this ticket looks. Hope is not a strategy. They must find a way to convince voters in the villages all over Nigeria how this is the way they must go. The Maitama man and Lekki woman will be indoors doing Netflix and chill on election day. They’ll only get on Twitter once in a while to check for election updates.
Collins Uma writes from North Bank, Makurdi.