Nigeria, April 1 -- For the third time in his chequered political career, failed to win the presidential election as a candidate. He came a distant third in his first attempt in 2007 when he vied on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as the departing vice president who fought a battle with his then principal, Olusegun Obasanjo. This time around, he came second but the taste of defeat is perhaps even more bitter because of what might have been.

In that first bid in 2007, many political observers did not give him any chance of winning because of the many hurdles - political and legal - that he had to surmount to even be on the ballot. He had little or no time to campaign and could not have even defeated the then-r...