Atiku can't defeat Buhari. – Tony Momoh

He said the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, could not stop Buhari as he (Abubakar) was only popular with the elite and not the masses.

Momoh, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the Buhari administration had impacted on many ordinary Nigerians, and they would vote him in 2019.

He, however, said Buhari would lose some votes in the North because Atiku is from the region, but that the APC candidate would make up in other regions to be able to win.

“I don’t think Atiku can defeat Buhari. No, he can’t, Buhari has done well in the delivery of his electoral promises and he will get the support of the people.

“Look at the war against insurgency for instance, has he not done well? Is the situation in the North East as it used to be? Of course there is relative security in the region and the people will want to vote for an administration that made that possible.

“Again, the school feeding programme, the conditional cash transfers and the other social programmes of the government, tens of thousands of Nigerians have benefitted. You don’t expect them not to vote Buhari.

“These are the real people that will vote, not the people on Facebook or Twitter. The people who are moving against the president now are the elite, not the people, and the reasons are obvious.

“Yes, Atiku is popular with the elite, but how many are they? So I don’t see him winning, though, he will get votes in the North as he is from that region and he is a Fulani and a Muslim like Buhari.

“However, the president will make up for lost votes in other regions like South East and South-South where he has delivered many projects to win,’’ he said.

The former minister said the achievements of the president’s fight against corruption and the power of incumbency would work in his favour in 2019.

Momoh said it was an illusion for the PDP to believe the selection of former governor, Peter Obi of Anambra as Atiku’s running mate would deliver the region to the party.

He said the Igbos are politically sophisticated and it had never been easy predicting their direction in any election.

Momoh argued that Buhari picked running mates, late Chuba Okadigbo and late Ume Ezeoke on two occasions for elections, but still lost in the South East.

The former minister said the region was open to both candidates in 2019, based on large number of both the APC and PDP members in the area.