2019 Presidency: Why Madam Oby, Sowore, Moghalu, others should support PT's Hashim

In our candid observation, Olawepo Hashim is the only new breed politician that is truly ready and capable of challenging the dou of President Buhari and Atiku Abubakar and it would be in the best interest of the country for other new breed candidates to support him to rescue Nigeria


The 2019 general election is around the corner and the coast is getting clearer, especially with the release by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the list of political parties participating in the upcoming election.

Recently, INEC released the list of 89 political parties, participating in the 2019 general elections and out of the political parties fielding candidates across various positions, 79 of them have presidential candidates.

The focus is on the new breed presidential candidates, majority of whom are expected to understand the importance of teaming up to project a formidable third force to challenge the duo of President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

It is my believe that, for the new breed politicians to disrupt the system or stand a chance of making any strong statement or truly seizing the political space, they must first and foremost learn the act of making alliances. This is very important because, even the old and established politicians that have amassed so much wealth and continued to recycle themselves in government are still making alliances because they understand that without alliance and re-alliance, there is no politics.

New breed politicians must therefore understand that, if those who have the billions to spend, the long term structures as well as large political networks are making more alliances to brighten their chances of victory, what other option does the new breed politicians have to make head way in the battle for the soul of Nigeria?

Although, with the release of participating parties by INEC, many young and vibrant aspirants who had earlier indicated interest in the number one job are no longer in the race, notwithstanding, there are still considerable numbers of excellent new breed such as Dr. Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili of ACPN, Omoyele Sowore of AAC, Kingsley Mogalu of YPP, Tope Fasua of ANRP and a host of others.

However, apart from the above listed candidates who are individually capable, another extra ordinary new breed politician is the Presidential candidate of third force movement and Peoples Trust (PT), Mr. Olawepo Hashim who was recently adopted by 10 other political parties and the Olisa Agbakoba’s led National Intervention Movement (NIM).

In our candid observation, Olawepo Hashim is the only new breed politician that is truly ready and capable of challenging the dou of Buhari and Atiku and it would be in the best interest of the country for other candidates to support him to rescue Nigeria.

If you do not believe me, check the available facts.

Firstly, there are about 460 political offices to be contested for at the federal level which include the Presidency, Senate and Federal House of representative.

It is understood that for any one running for the position of president to stand a chance at all, his/her party must strongly contest a considerable number of seats at both senate and House of Representatives. However, this is not the case for many of the new breed presidential candidates.

For example, while Sowore’s party, AAC has 30 out of possible 460 candidates across the country, Madam Oby’s party, ACPN has less than 60, Durotoye’s ANN has above 20, Fasua’s ANRP has below 20 and Kingsley Moghalu’s YPP has about 70. The obvious truth here is that, these figures are not taking anyone anywhere, no matter how much they claim to be popular. If your popularity doesn't transform to political structure and strength, it doesn't have any electoral value.

However, Olawepo Hashim’s Peoples Trust (PT) has about 200 candidates across the country, making him one of the most formidable new breed politicians.

Out of all the newly registered political parties in the country, People’s Trust (PT) of Hashim is the number one with the highest candidates running for offices across the country, indicating their level of grassroots structures and electoral strength.

Also, it is important to equally note that, Hashim’s Peoples Trust has more candidates running for offices than older political parties such as APGA, Kowa, Accord Party, AD etc.

Let me also add that, out of the 79 political parties fielding presidential candidates in 2019, only about 8 of them have up to 190 candidates running for offices and Olawepo’s Peoples Trust is one of those 8 political parties.

This goes to show that, in terms of his party’s national spread, there is something concrete on the ground for the candidate to bank on, making him the real third force.

Secondly, apart from the party’s spread which can be verified on the INEC list, it has been stated that Gbenga Olawepo Hashim’s (GOH) campaign structure is actively present in all 774 local governments of Nigeria.

It was reliably gathered that due to the earlier hijack of ANN by vested interest at the presidency, which later led to an alliance with Peoples Trust, many of his associates could not submit their forms to enable them stand as candidates in their respective constituencies.

What this means is that, beyond the party strength as seen on the INEC’s list, Olawepo Hashim actually have a more formidable structure which rightly made him a strong contender for the presidency against the duo of Buhari and Atiku.

Another valid point is that, while the Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT) initiated by Mathias Tsado, former aspirant under the Action Democratic Party (ADP) could not see the light of day, with several of its members backing out, Hashim on the other hand has been able to get endorsement from 10 other political parties. This is in addition to his adoption by the Olisa Agbakoba’s National Intervention Movement (NIM).

Fourthly, based on INEC’s requirement, each party should have at least two (2) agents at the polling units across the country and from record, there are about 120,000 polling units in the country, meaning that each party is expected to have about 240,000 agents.

If we are to be honest to ourselves, none of the new breed politicians have the capacity to have half of this number except Hashim.

It was also reliably gathered that even as we speak, the GOH structure of Hashim already has these agents ready in all of the 240,000 polling units, in readiness for the general election.

It is therefore imperative that all new breed candidates consider working with Hashim to brighten the chance of the third force and truly position it to take over the country come 2019.