It is good to be optimistic about one’s preferred candidate for any election and it’s a widely acknowledged fact that politicians are incurable optimist., but I want to share my opinion on what I believe one must have to win presidential election in Nigeria.
First of all, you must have 6 governors on your side. You must have a governor from one of these two North West states; Kaduna and Kano. You need two of these three states; Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom.
You need one from South West States which must be one of these two; Oyo and Osun.
You need two from North Central States; Plateau, Benue and Kwara.
While Delta and others in its fold gives you financial backing, the others will give you numbers and geographical spread.
It’s more favourable for you if those governors are seeking reelection/2nd term in office.
You need allies among opposition who will be favourably disposed to your ambition and will never adopt extreme measures against your aspiration while promoting the interests of their political parties.
You need the establishment. You need at least two men from the establishment to endorse and publicly campaign for you.
The establishment will get you envisaged loyalty of the armed forces.
You need endorsement from both Christian and Islamic organisations with prominent personalities endorsing you.
While you cannot control the judiciary outside power, you need a judiciary favourably disposed to your candidacy, and this you can gauge through judicial pronouncements in pre-election matters.
You need the media. You need to heavily invest in media campaigns. You need to be the news…
In my opinion, if you don’t have this, you can never be the President of Nigeria, and nowhere in the world. If you have God, He can surely get you all these things listed out.
On paper, who has all these will always win in Nigeria.
– Deyemi Saka
(Public Affairs Analyst & PR Consultant).
