Former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, decided to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because he felt like an “orphan” in the All Progressives Congress (APC), confidants of the retired police officer have told TheCable.
On July 31, 2014, TheCable broke the story on the pressure on Ribadu to run for governorship in Adamawa State on the platform of PDP.
The former anti-graft czar complained to friends privately that the impeachment of Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako as governor had effectively destroyed Adamawa APC as all key politicians had defected to PDP, leaving Ribadu and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the only big names in the opposition party.
“Earlier, Ribadu had been advised by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande to go for governorship in Adamawa ─ a clear message that he should not give the presidential ticket a shot again,” a Ribadu associate told The Cable.
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This, the source said, was a clear pointer to the fact that Ribadu was no longer “highly regarded by the APC hierarchy at the national level”.
At the state level, Ribadu had never been comfortable being in the same party with Atiku, whom he indicted on corruption charges in 2006 when he was EFCC chairman and Atiku was vice-president to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The courts later cleared Atiku of any wrongdoing.
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“If Ribadu decided to stay back in APC, it would be difficult for him to work with Atiku whose political calculations no one can ever be certain about,” the source added, revealing that Ribadu worked “day and night” to help Nyako escape impeachment while Atiku “did not lift a finger until it was too late”.
Ribadu surprised many political analysts in 2010 when he joined the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN, now part of APC) to contest for the 2011 presidential election against President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP.
However, he only won in Osun State out of the states under the control of ACN in what many alleged was a betrayal by the ACN leaders who were said to have struck a secret deal with Jonathan before the poll.
“Nuhu took it on his chin then, hoping that 2011 was a good introduction to politics for him. But recent events in APC have demonstrated to him that he is no longer wanted in the party,” the associate said.
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There are also bigger calculations about 2019 ─ when presidency is expected to return to the north if Jonathan contests and is re-elected next year.
Ribadu could be in the frame then.
22 comments
So its true that everyone has a price. I am however disapointed in Ribadu, for he is someone I used to think is forthright and dogged in his resolve to fight anything crooked. If rather than join other members to fight the injustice against APC in his state he decides to run to PDP just like the numerous political prostitutes we have come to identify with PDP, what should we not expect in Nigeria.
Why are you blaming Ribadu for defecting to PDP? Did you do same for Oyinlola when he crossed to APC? You must be a bad critic who only look at one side that concerns him. Bad rubbish.
Oyinlola did not defect to APC in order to contest any election or for any immediate gratification. That is the difference between the two of them, Mr!
Ribadu is nothing but a confused person, He thinks joining PDP alone can make one governor forgetting the fact that the people of Adamawa has the final say on this matter. I dey laugh sha!
Its a known fact that in Nigeria politics there are no permanent enemies or friends; only permanent (personal) interests. Vision 2019 already on the go? May we see many days beyond
It is strange that experienced journalist will continue to propagate this falsehood that APC sold out in the SW as if they did not know the prevailing sentiments against Northern president in 2011. There was nothing ACN did to tell people not to vote for Ribadu, it was pure sentiment of the man without shoe. Where I voted in Ibadan, all my friends told me before election that they will vote for Jonathan but not PDP. It does not make sense to me but that was how majority of people voted. If it was a case of sellout as some commentators have said, did Ribadu sold out his own state too? Despite all the stories that OBJ used EFCC against perceived enemy of OBJ, BAT still stocked out his neck and supported him and provided logistics for campaigns to zonal and some state rallies.Mallam Ribadu’s case is a matter for another day. He has gone back to the people that planned to kill him
according to him because he has been
promised the governorship ticket of PDP by
presidency, let us see the outcome of the
primaries. Politics is not a short dash race, it is a marathon, I wish he gets the ticket, if not he would have destroyed his had earned reputation by this singular act.I wish him well because he seems to be one of the very few Nigerians with the right quality to change this country. That is why whatever anyone has to say about BAT, you cannot accuse him of deliberately picking incompetent people to lead any of his teams. Ribadu/Adeola combination was one of the best combinations the last time, did we vote for them, no. The same people that did not vote the last time will be the same people that will campaigning that APC should bring out the best without adequate consideration to political permutations and idiosyncrasies of our people, it will still not work. If it is Gen.Buhari that will pull the crowd and one young governor from southeast or southwest, so be it, the combination has to be politically correct this time around.
If Bola Tinubu did not sell out in 2011 Jonathan might not have won the election, at least there might had been a second round of election which might had provided a very good opportunity for CPC and ACN to renegotiate and possibly ended up winning that election. It was Tinubu that gave PDP oxygen in 2011 presidential election in the southwest, PDP was about to be cremated in the southwest after losing in the guber elections across the region, but Tinubu betrayed his party candidates and allowed PDP’s rigging of presidential election across southwest, especially Tinubu’s Lagos by inflating voters figures. Obasanjo did not win in any Yoruba state including his Ogun in 1999, so the argument of Ribadu not winning Adamawa in 2011 does not hold water as one your excuses for betraying him.
Nobody rigged where I voted in Ibadan and Jonathan won the polling booth. We have to accept the reality that sentiments against the North was high in the south west. It was only Osun state where ACN won although you did not consider that. Ondo state was under LP which adopted PDP candidate as their candidate, what would Tinubu have done about that? For me, Ribadu lost because Nigerians are not ready for any change, we allow sentiments when it comes to deciding the people that will lead us. If nothing changes, it will still be pure sentiments in 2015 and not the quality of the candidates.
Hello Oga Tunde, you can only defend what you are sure about. Everyone was aware of what transpire btw Tinubu and Jonathan in 2011. As a matter of fact it was a friend of mine who won as an House of Rep member in Osun that told me about the meeting in Lagos at doudard barracks which Obj too was part of where they went into agreement and even the man Ribadu said it after the election that he was used. The reason why Obj mentioned it in his open letter to GEJ that he was supporting other parties at the expense of PDP. So, don’t ever trust any politician abeg…
Do not acuse Tunibu as in the case of the failure of the arrangement between the ACN and the CPC in 2011.ACN ageed to give ticket to d CPC candidate but on condition that candidature should be run under ACN platform and also that d vice president ticket should come frim ACN side and to comply with the later condition,buharis runing mate,tunde bakari most stepdown for a nominee from ACN side which became difficult for him to do that and subsequently scattered d arrangement.but for not voting Ribadu in the south west,I also have the same feeling with u.
I do absolutely agree with your position. I also voted at a booth in Iyaganku, Ibadan. I never saw any ACN-driven campaign or pressure to vote GEJ. Everyone was saying ‘Jonathan’ because of sentiments of a Southern candidate, he had no shoes, etc. I didn’t hear anyone mention Tinubu or his order. Your analysis actually is really sensible. How did Tinubu sell out in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ekiti etc.They are not saying it. Did Tinubu sell out in Adamawa, as well? Good question.
Ribadu might have made a great move which will result in wonderful victory or he might have made the gravest error of his political career, either way, he has seriously gambled, but time will tell whether the gamble was worth it or not.
He has nothing to offer the people ,his personal interest is driving him .
Pay back time for ribadu, he will surely loose because of protest vote. This has really exposed him as a pretender
Nigeria Politics wonder shall never end, the same Nuhu Ribadu accusing PDP of assassination against him now I̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ the midst of alleged killers, this man has lost out, so stomach infrastructure has affected him also bcos he has gone broke. Anyhow i wish him best of luck
I wonder why an intelligent man like Ribadu would do political calculation like a kid. How should is he that he is going to emerge victorious in the by election? I heard him president in 2019,God sparing our lives till then. But truthfully, you got me disappointed on this your defection…
In politics, timing is everything. Ribadu was comfortable in ACN, when he was convinced that the party was a progressive one. The merger with CPC and ANPP to form APC, moved the pendulum, ever so far right.
He also knows that when power shifts back to the North, that North East or North Central, will be the preferred zone to get the slot.
I say it is a smart move by Ribadu.
So, no credible candidates in PDP Adamawa, state it’s a pity.
The harder they come, the harder they fall. Can Somebody explain the puzzle?
what do you guys expect from a baby politician who doesn’t know how to use a political scientific calculator,ofcourse”Error!Error!Error “
People make parties. Let’s not discount the possibility that Ribadu may become a positive influence and instrument of positive change in the party. There is never a permanent ally in politics; just permanent interests.
I can’t blame Ribadu because PDP was smart to destroy APC in his state.I believe they must have promised most of them heaven on earth to defect back to PDP leaving the Governor,Atiku and Ribadu in the party but I know for sure they will not allow Ribadu to scale through,remember what NPN did to Ojukwu during 1983 senatorial election in Anambara.They may compensate him latter but they will not give him Ribadu the ticket.
Ribadu is a let down period. i wish him well in his new party