Let me state my position plainly. As matters stand today, I do not have confidence in either Atiku Abubakar or Peter Obi to deliver the leadership Nigeria urgently needs.
That is an assessment, not a verdict. Both men can change it through their conduct, their policies and, above all, the people they choose to keep around them.
With Atiku, it is the company that troubles me. Listening to some of the voices in his political circle gives me the shivers. I hear the familiar northern establishment preparing its return, with its old alliances, its old expectations and its old appetite for power. I want evidence that the interests of ordinary Nigerians will come before the interests of the people already queuing to accompany him into office. Every region has its power brokers. None of them should own the presidency.
With Obi, my concern is different. He has not yet persuaded me that he possesses the toughness, the strategic judgement and the willingness to listen that this struggle demands. The presidency requires a man who can confront powerful commercial interests, resist manipulation and keep control of his own political organisation. I want to see him respond decisively the next time the political elite try to push him around. Nigeria cannot afford a president whose intentions are stronger than his ability to execute them.
So who else deserves serious examination? Four names on the presidential candidate list published on 12 September merit a closer look. I set them out here not as endorsements but as cases for investigation. None has yet passed every test.
Adewole Adebayo of the SDP deserves a proper hearing. His international legal background is directly relevant to a country where contracts, concessions and commercial arrangements decide who benefits from public wealth. His published programme goes further than most, setting out institutional responsibilities and mechanisms for monitoring delivery. Those are useful starting points for questioning him. But professional accomplishment does not automatically produce effective government. I want to see his team, his financing, and his implementation plans. His nomination is also being disputed within his own party, despite his appearance on the published list. That uncertainty matters.
Omoyele Sowore of the AAC should be assessed beyond the label of activist. He has confronted authority repeatedly and paid for it with arrest and detention. Amnesty International has documented his treatment for criticising officials and joining peaceful protest. That record gives real substance to his claim of political courage. My questions concern governing capacity. Who would run the economy? Who would reform the security services? Can he build support across the country and work with a legislature without surrendering his principles? I want to see the administrative depth behind the courage.
Donald Duke of the PRP offers something the others cannot: a full executive record to examine. His Cross River administration pursued investment and tourism, with Tinapa as its flagship, and that ambition to build an economy beyond oil was the right instinct. But Tinapa went on to suffer serious debt and operational problems. Its history demands scrutiny of the original decisions, the financing and the management under successive administrations. Duke should explain what worked, what failed and what he would do differently. Nigeria needs projects that remain useful and solvent long after the commissioning ceremony.
Seyi Makinde of the APM must be judged together with the people on his ticket. His experience running Oyo State is a genuine credential. But he has chosen as his running mate Lawal Daura, the former Director-General of the DSS whom Acting President Yemi Osinbajo dismissed in August 2018 after the unauthorised blockade of the National Assembly. Daura joined the APM only days before the convention, having failed to secure a governorship ticket in another party, and was elevated to the vice-presidential slot almost immediately. A candidate who promises constitutional government owes Nigerians a direct explanation of that choice, and of who made it. The concern I have raised about the people surrounding Atiku must apply with equal force to everyone else.
My position is straightforward. I am willing to examine alternatives, and I expect every candidate to earn public trust rather than assume it.
Show us your financiers. Declare your business interests. Introduce the people who would run the economy and the security services. Tell us how you would stop public contracts becoming rewards for political loyalty.
Nigeria needs a president strong enough to resist powerful interests and disciplined enough to remain accountable to the people who elected him. My support is available to whoever can demonstrate that combination. Nobody is entitled to it.
Sources: Channels Television and Premium Times reporting on the 12 September candidate list; adewoleadebayo.com and sdpnigeria.org; Amnesty International; Cross River State Government and TheCable on Tinapa; Sahara Reporters, Premium Times and Daily Trust on the Makinde-Daura ticket; State House statement on Daura’s dismissal, August 2018
