TV Surrogacy And Celebration Of Absurdities!

TEMITOPE AJAYI

I think many Nigerians have been so used to abnormalities such that they now see the normal as absurd. Since yesterday afternoon, many of our so-called analysts and surrogates have been on TV and Radio stations doing post APC presidential convention review.

One of the prominent faces, Dr. Sam Amadi was on Arise TV yesterday and, in his usual triumphalism, derisively dismissed President Buhari incapable of playing high wire politics as the reason Asiwaju Bola Tinubu won the APC presidential ticket.

For Dr. Amadi, Tinubu prevailed against Buhari only because the President could not get the APC governors to work for his preferred candidate. In other words, Buhari should have used any means including force and subterfuge to stop Tinubu at all cost.

The gold standard in presidential bullying, they always cite, is how President Obasanjo used EFCC to stop Peter Odili, Victor Attah and other PDP presidential aspirants in 2007, at the PDP convention ground, to impose late President Umari Yar’Adua as his preferred candidate.

Now, a President imposing his will by abusing his office using coercive power of the state is what is being recommended as a normal behaviour every President should adopt to choose party candidate.