A legal practitioner, George Etomi, has described the declaration to contest for Presidency, of both Atiku Abubakar and Muhammadu Buhari, as a show of political muscle, noting that the Party should have opted for a consensus candidate ahead of the 2015 elections.
Etomi, who on Thursday appeared on Sunrise Daily, said the polity was in reset mode as many politicians were working to position themselves ahead of the general elections.
“We are in the reset button mode, so you can expect that everyone is going back to the starting line,” he said.
He further described the recent political events including the resignation of seven ministers from President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet as “a flurry of activities in which people are posturing”, however, while some have good chances of victory, others are “posturing so that from any fall out, they still get some sort of advantage”.
He noted that everything was part of democracy.
About the battle for who becomes President in 2015, Etomi said “everyone was expecting this consensus arrangement to come from the APC” and there were speculations that the delay in aspirants coming forward was because of the consensus plan.
“It would appear that new factors coming into the APC” including the governors who decamped from the PDP, have caused “a gravitational shift”
“So, I think those who expected that it would have been an easy ride for General Buhari would be disappointed. He would have to go and make a case to be the flag-bearer” Etomi said, noting that other APC aspirants would have to do the same.
He, also berated the party for not finding a consensus candidate as the opposition needs that more than the ruling party.
The competition is expected to be stiff as “healthy and robust” cases would be made by aspirants.
Commenting on the activities of the PDP, Etomi said it is “very unusual” for a sitting president to be challenged under the Presidential system, adding that “I’m not too surprised that the PDP is endorsing Mr President but whatever the case , in another 2 or 3 weeks, it would be very clear who the two candidates will be”.
The lawyer opined that the internal debates over endorsements for the President and those by the governors who also want to be endorsed, was the real election.
“I can assure you, the more important fight going on is the fight behind the scene,” he noted, adding that whether the practice was democratic or representative of the people’s will was a matter of conjecture.
On the issues concerning the Ekiti governorship election, Etomi said the voice of the people should not be over-ridden by the Court.
“The people have spoken. Let them live with their choice and if in four years they find that they made a mistake, they have an opportunity to correct it.
