Tinubu's 'its my turn' slogan features in Ghana's politics ahead of ruling party's presidential primaries

Although the political season in Nigeria is almost over, one can not forget the events that heated up the campaign ahead of the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections.

With the youths make up 70% of Nigeria's 206 million population in 2020, they were expected to cast their vote in what was described as the most important as the country needed to the steered off its current trajectory.

70% of the population is under 30, and 42% are under the age of 15.

The polity was heated up. A significant number of the youth supported Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party at least by social media commentary, however, former Lagos State Governor and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had a different idea.

He had made his stance clear about his intention to run and become Nigeria's president long before he made the famous statement, "Emi lo kan" to wit, "It is my turn". He made the statement when addressed delegates in Ogun State ahead of the presidential primaries of the APC in June.

He also boasted that without him, Buhari wouldn’t have won the presidential election in 2015.

“If not for me that led the battlefront, Buhari wouldn’t have won. He contested first, second and third times, but lost. He even said on television that he won’t contest again,” Tinubu had said.

“But I went to his home in Katsina. I told him ‘you would contest and win, but you won’t joke with the matter of the Yoruba’. Since he has been elected, I have not been appointed minister. I didn’t get a contract. This time, it’s Yoruba's turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my turn.”

His comments drew criticisms from political commentators, social media commentators and former president Olusegun Obasanjo in a public letter on January 2. He said: “Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now.”

Those claims, according to Mr. Obasanjo, “cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria.”

Mr. Obasanjo further said no individual can claim that he or she has the absolute solutions to the problems facing Nigeria, stating that “the solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’.”

Fast forward, Tinubu was on Wednesday, March 1 declared the winner of the elections.

He defeated 17 other candidates scoring a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.

He also scored over 25 percent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.

INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the PDP came second in the election.

Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election.

When and how it was used in Ghana

West African neighbors, Ghana will vote for a new president in 2024 as the tenure of President Akuffo- Addo elapses. There has been an internal power struggle within the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) which will appoint a new flagbearer.

The winner from the primaries is likely to contest the 2024 presidential polls against the National Democratic Party, which will likely give the nod to former president John Mahama.

The struggle on who will lead is mainly between Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen who has contested the presidential primaries of the party against President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo.

The others are the Former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, a Member of Parliament representing Assin Central in Parliament.

It is the opinion of many that is it the turn of Mr. Kyerematen who is popularly called Alan Cash to fly the flag of the party in 2024. That position has, however, been contested by the Director General of the National Lotteries Authority (NLA), Sammi Awuku who is a known ally of Dr. Bawumia.

Mr. Awuku expressed confidence that his principal will lead the party in the 2024 general elections.

Awuku, who is also the former National Organizer of the NPP, stated that he does not believe in the “aduru woso” (it is your time) principle when it comes to choosing a flagbearer for the party.

Instead, he believes in selecting someone who can do the job well.

Speaking in an interview with the local TV station, Movement TV on April 17, 2023, he maintained that Dr. Bawumia possesses all the qualities needed to lead the party effectively.

According to him, the Vice President is accommodating, religiously tolerant, and humble.

“I have said that the Vice President is a personal friend, I think he possesses some values, some virtues that I believe if he wants to contest, and Ghanaians support him, he will go far.

“I don’t believe in the ‘aduru woso’ (it is your time) principle, every election goes with its own strength and whenever there is vacancy people fight for it, with his politics of inclusion, he draws everyone closer, you will also realize that he is tolerant religiously.

“This is a man that when you invite him to church programs he goes to, you will see him in the Mosque and in the Church, he doesn’t discriminate and he respects everyone also.

He emphasized that as a one-time organizer at the youth and national levels, he has an eye for successful mobilization and campaigning.

“When he consults, and the party opens nominations and he wants to go, I will support him if he comes to me for my support,” he said.

He added that Bawumia's leadership style has been evident in the various roles he has played in the party and the government.

NBA