Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is going into the 25 February presidential election with two major problems in Nigeria’s south-south and south-east geopolitical zones; the otherwise stronghold of his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
These two zones, which are predominantly Christian, have historically been PDP zones since the return to democracy in 1999.
With the crisis within the party – which has on the one hand seen the governor of oil-rich Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, lead a group of four other governors against Atiku’s ambition and on the other hand, the growing popularity of Labour Party’s Peter Obi – Atiku now knows he must turn to his own region, the north, in search of votes.
King in the north
President Buhari, aside from getting support from the south in 2015 and 2019, has always been the “King in the North” since his first foray into the presidential election in
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