DURING the campaigns leading to what was assumed would be the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries for the 2007 Presidential elections, I stumbled on the campaign team of an aspirant. It was a well-organised, motivated, serious but somewhat naively optimistic group. Off record, the team leader took questions on the campaigns and assessed the chances of other aspirants.
A question cropped up on how the team assessed the chances of then Katsina State governor, Umar Yar'Adua. It sounded like a naive if not daft question. Some giggled, while the team leader confidently responded that Yar'Adua was not an aspirant and cannot be because he is so sick that he is just striving to complete his gubernatorial tenure so that he can have time to go and take care of his health.
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