Pulse Opinion: Ezekwesili, Moghalu, Durotoye, Sowore should settle for one among them to avoid vote splitting

Pulse Opinion: Ezekwesili, Moghalu, Durotoye, Sowore should settle for one among them to avoid vote splitting

Ezekwesili, Moghalu, Durotoye, Sowore should settle for a consensus candidate among them to avoid vote splitting.
   
   
   
       
       
           
               
                   

Ezekwesili, Moghalu, Durotoye, Sowore should settle for a consensus candidate among them to avoid vote splitting.

               
           
               
                   

Something struck me as I watched Obiageli Ezekwesili of the ACPN, Kingsley Moghalu of the YPP and Fela Durotoye of the ANN hold hands while singing along to Timi Dakolo’s hair-raising tune; as the presidential debate of January 19, 2019, wound to a close. They could actually work together.

               
           
               
                   

Yes, they can.

               
           
               
                   

As someone who has had the opportunity of interviewing Ezekwesili, Moghalu and Durotoye as they set out their stalls to run for the highest office in the land, I can say they each have a burning desire and passion for their country. They all really want to fix their broken country.

               
           
               
                   

Add Omoyele Sowore to this impressive list and what you have is a quartet of some of the best leadership materials this nation can be blessed with.

               
           
               
                   

Yes, I also know about PACT (Presidential Aspirants Coming Together) and how it crashed and burned soon after it was formed.

               
           
               
                   

                                   

L-R: Fela Durotoye, Kingsley Moghalu, and Omoyele Sowore signed up for PACT (SaharaReporters)

               

               
           
               
                   

Yes, I know that Moghalu has disparaged PACT and that for a moment, PACT was the elephant in the room for a couple of these candidates.

               
           
               
                   

I am also aware that another meeting convened to plead with some of these candidates to step down for one of them so they can pool resources behind that consensus pick, also crashed and burned.

               
           
               
                   

I know.

               
           
               
                   

But there is passion and suitability for office and there is pragmatism in a politically peculiar country. On another day, in another nation, in another system, in saner climes, we should be talking about swearing in one of the quartet of Ezekwesili, Durotoye, Moghalu or Sowore as president in May.

               
           
               
                   

In my book, they have proffered the best solutions to some of the never ending problems bedeviling this country. Talk is cheap, did I hear you say, but they are still some of the smartest minds aspiring for the office of president at this time and we should be proud of their showing on the campaign trail and on the stomp.

               
           
               
                   

                                   

Atiku and Buhari are playing in a different league (Presidency)

               

               
           
               
                   

However, the odds are still stacked against them. None of these stellar presidential performers possesses the kind of money, structure or name recognition possessed by Atiku and Buhari. The APC and PDP are at the moment playing in a different league to the rest of humanity—the money league.

               
           
               
                   

And since money—loads of money—is what wins elections in these parts, the younger and smarter presidential candidates can only help their cause by agreeing to work together and not as separate, less potent entities. 

               
           
               
                   

                                   

Ezekwesili promises to lift 80 million Nigerians out of poverty if elected president (ACPN media team)

               

               
           
               
                   

This nation desperately needs a third force to run the PDP and APC close and maybe upset the form books. That so called third force can arise from within the ranks of these intelligent contestants. Running separately, none of them will stand a chance against the behemoth political establishment and they would have split votes that should have been handed to a consensus candidate. And they should know this by now if they aren’t being politically naïve.

               
           
               
                   

                                   

Fela Durotoye says 2019 election is another opportunity for something big to happen in Nigeria (Pulse)

               

               
           
               
                   

PACT can work after all. And this time, losers should rein-in support, campaign structure, foot-soldiers and team behind the eventual winner. And there is not so much time left to get every one of these brilliant minds singing from the same hymn sheet. In the famous words of Jay Z, nobody wins when the family feuds. 

Source: Pulse Opinion: Ezekwesili, Moghalu, Durotoye, Sowore should settle for one among them to avoid vote splitting

- gist culled from pulseng