President Muhammadu Buhari and Senator AbdulFatai Buhari, who represents Oyo North senatorial district have many ‘political’ in common.
Apart from bearing the same surname, they have had to pass through similar experiences before attaining their current positions.
President Buhari hails from Daura area of Katsina State in North West Nigeria while Senator Buhari is from Ogbomoso area of Oyo State in South West Nigeria. They both speak Hausa fluently. Though Buhari used a considerable amount of years in northern Nigeria.
Before they were both elected in 2011 as president and senator, they were not knew to losing and winning elections.
Buhari who was a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007 lost his bid to represent Oyo North senatorial district in 2007. That was on the platform of the Labour Party, LP. That same year, then General Buhari of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, lost his bid to preside over the affairs of Nigeria to late president Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
In 2011, Buhari who had joined the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, lost his bid to return to the Green Chambers. Buhari, who had also joined the defunct Congress for Progressives Change, CPC, lost his presidential election to Goodluck Jonathan ( now a former president).
As fate would have it in 2015, they both contested on the party of newly formed All Progressives Congress, APC, and they won. Apart from their victories as president and senator respectively, their main opponents didn’t challenge their victories at the tribunal.
Only few days ago, on 18th September, 2018, four days to the Osun governorship election, they met. It was at the Ibadan airport, enroute Osogbo, the Osun State capital, for the final campaign for the APC candidate and eventual winner, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola. To the admiration of everybody, especially non-Hausa speakers, they shared jokes.
In this forthcoming election, nobody obtained nomination form against the duo. Their nominations were affirmed by party members. And more importantly, they will be making records. If Buhari is re-elected, he would become the first northern to achieve that feat. Buhari, on the other hand, would become the first senator to be re-elected in the history of his senatorial district.
No doubt, both have performed. Both enjoy cult-like followership. Is it a coincidence of performance?
