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| Pat Utomi |
Pat Utomi, presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP), has withdrawn from the 2011 election to be held on April 9.
In a telephone interview with BusinessDay yesterday, he said under the current system it was impossible for the opposition to defeat the incumbent, noting that it was impossible for democracy to work in a situation where state capture is complete as is the case in Nigeria at the moment. “It is easy for a group of people, drug barons, armed robbers, etc to do anything necessary to win election. Once they get into office even if they are removed by the court after six months, they use state resources to make it impossible for opponent to defeat them,” he said.
Utomi accused the business elite of having the tendency to avoid even their best friends who are running for election if such friends are not incumbents, adding that the only way the opposition could defeat the incumbent under the present situation is through a revolution.
He said at the outset, the main opposition parties namely the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and SDMP had agreed in principle to harmonise their manifestos, saying that all four parties currently have the same manifesto.
He said the last stage of collaboration was all the four candidates Nuhu Ribadu (ACN), Muhammadu Buhari (CPC), Ibrahim Shekarau (ANPP) and himself were to agree on a sole candidate, stating however, that, that arrangement had taken longer than necessary in being actualised.
He said he decided to take the first step in that process by withdrawing from the presidential race.
On why he participated in the presidential debate organised by the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) on Tuesday if he had made up his mind to withdraw from the race, he said the process of educating Nigerians is a continuous one.
Utomi, formerly a professor of political economy and director at the Pan African University, first contested for the presidency in 2007 on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). In the last few years after the 2003 election, his focus was on building a coalition of civil society groups and raising political consciousness to strengthen the opposition parties. That effort culminated in the formation of the SDMP with him as pioneer chairman and later its presidential candidate.
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